Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 286

The next day...

The next round of combat would begin in thirty minutes. The three friends exchanged glances as they prepared themselves mentally for the challenge ahead.

"Are you sure we don't need to review the plan for Hector's team?" Taro asked, his voice taking on that serious tone that only emerged when they discussed strategies.

Ren began walking toward the arena, his friends flanking him on both sides.

"Hector's minotaur has considerable brute strength, but it lacks precision and weapons," he explained, his eyes forward. "Vern's centaur is fast but predictable in its attack patterns. And Rosalind's three-horned horse..."

"That's a problem," Min interjected. "All three creatures are Tier 2, all quite large. They outmatch us in raw power if we only account for Taro's Living Tunnel."

"But not in adaptability," Ren smiled. "Hector and his friends may have large beasts. But we..."

"Have more beasts," Taro completed, a smile forming on his face as understanding dawned.

"Exactly," Ren nodded. "And that will be our advantage... Just distract the beasts for a moment and give me a platform at the front as I explained last night."

As they approached the arena, the murmur of the crowd grew louder. Hundreds of students had gathered to witness the second round of combat, and the level of anticipation had increased considerably after the surprising results of the previous day.

Lin observed with pride and concern. Her pupil had progressed faster than expected, attracting attention that could prove as dangerous as it was beneficial.

"Seems like your personal project is causing quite a stir," Yang commented beside her, his stone-covered arms crossed over his chest.

Lin sketched an enigmatic smile. "This is just the beginning."

The combat professor grunted, tightening his folded arms. "The boy has more talent than I thought, I'll admit..."

Ren finished preparing. His mushrooms pulsed with a steady, reassuring rhythm. As he adjusted his uniform, his mind traveled momentarily to a small house in the city's outskirts, where two elderly people would probably be following the ritual he had taught them.

With that renewed certainty in his heart, he headed toward the door that would lead him to his next challenge.

♢♢♢♢

The air in the arena was charged with expectation. The stands overflowed with students eager to witness the next confrontation of the team that had broken the Lurker's record.

Hector, Vern, and Rosalind positioned themselves now without the characteristic confidence of those who had never doubted their place in the academy's hierarchy.

"Remember our strengths," Hector murmured to his companions. "Our beasts are superior in individual power. Let's not make Jin's mistake; we'll fight to tire them from a distance first."

Vern nodded, his fingers drumming nervously against his thigh. "The rotten boy is fast, but our four-legged creatures more so... if we corner him..."

"He's not the only problem," Rosalind interrupted, her eyes fixed on their opponents. "The other two are also dangerous... Especially Taro."

At the other end, Ren stretched his muscles. Beside him, Min and Taro displayed a calmness that would have been unthinkable months ago.

"It's almost poetic," Min commented, extending his arms above his head. "They're the ones who fear us now..."

It was a clever strategy. If they couldn't defeat the beetle directly, they could attack Taro to force him to withdraw the invocation.

But the centaur halted when Min's water snake materialized before it. Simultaneously, Ren's hydra appeared to support the snake in a 2-against-1 that balanced the field.

"Where's Min?" Rosalind murmured, confused to see the snake but not its tamer. She needed to take advantage of her horse being the only free beast now.

"Charge at Ren first!" Hector warned, but too late.

The mushroom boy had also disappeared, made invisible by the ability of Min's amphibian.

While Hector's minotaur continued its struggle with the beetle, Taro was the only one in sight.

But not unprotected. _{freeweɓnovel.cѳm}

His body was covered by armor from his bug and atop that, living mineral, the byproduct of his beast's evolution and its synergies. With only this additional protection, it seemed they had left him to his fate.

Rosalind smiled, confident. "Bad decision," she murmured, directing her horse toward Taro. The creature lowered its horns, preparing for a charge that could pierce even metal armor.

The impact made many in the audience narrow their eyes, but the result left them breathless. Taro, with his legs firmly planted and his mineral armor reinforcing his body, had stopped the horse after sliding only a few meters. His arms, also wrapped in living mineral, held the beast's head while his muscles trembled with the effort.

"Impossible," Rosalind gasped. "No one of lower rank stops a frontal charge from…"

A shadow fell over them. Ren, who had been waiting for this moment, jumped from a mineral platform that the beetle had strategically created behind him. He lost his invisibility upon separating from the effect of Min's amphibian, but gained the element of surprise as he descended directly onto Vern.