Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 694

Chapter 694: Chapter 694 - Taming the Fifth Year - Optional Paths - 3

The forest base was very rocky.

Tree roots were shallow, extending horizontally instead of deepening vertically. They created a dense network just beneath the surface, interweaving with the webs.

But further down past the root layer...

Only rock remained.

The mole would take too long to advance through bedrock so hard, progress would be measured in centimeters per second rather than the meters they needed.

But everything couldn’t be solid rock, right?

And there were occasional tunnels, narrow and twisted things that suggested water or ancient beast passage.

"This way," the leader pointed to one that seemed to go in the approximate direction they wanted. "It must connect eventually with softer ground."

They entered with hopes of bypassing surface dangers.

The tunnel was claustrophobic in ways that pressed on the mind. Barely wide enough for one person at a time, forcing a single line that stretched their formation dangerously thin. And dark, so dark that even with magical light they could barely see a few meters ahead, shadows swallowing illumination as if they were hungry living things.

Someone put their hand on the wall to stabilize themselves during awkward navigation.

The "rock" moved.

The Stone Lurker awakened and ’split in half’, its body of animated mineral opening an enormous mouth. It was small, weak, barely low Iron in power.

But its attack was unexpected, biting the student’s arm with force sufficient to bruise deeply and draw blood through punctured skin.

"There are Rocktopi here!"

"Just one," the leader dispatched it with several fused blows empowered by his Silver rank beast, stone body shattering into fragments. "Let’s continue."

Three steps further, another Stone Lurker attacked from a different angle.

Then another from the ceiling.

And another from the floor.

The tunnel was infested with them, perfect ambush terrain.

And the problem wasn’t that they were strong or individually dangerous to Silver-rank students with proper defenses. The problem was they were very resistant to damage and you couldn’t distinguish them from normal rocks until they attacked, camouflage perfect down to texture and temperature.

Every protrusion could be one. Every bump in the wall. Every irregular surface that caught the eye.

The group advanced at a snail’s pace, preventively striking every rock they saw, wasting energy on false positives while the true Stone Lurkers waited mixed perfectly with their environment, patience unlimited.

Of the weak Iron-rank monsters, they were the most annoying to deal with 1 on 1 by far.

"This is impossible," someone growled after the tenth false alarm where smashed rock revealed only more rock beneath. "We’re wasting too much time."

Web Tunnels - Ren’s Group

"Swamps," Ren responded simply, single word but carrying implications he didn’t elaborate. "Several hours of detour more than you think because spider webs also claim more territory when you go deeper there and reach the dry middle zone... And the swamps have their own problems too."

Zhao smiled from behind, clearly enjoying how Ren cleared each question with interesting facts.

The Strahlfang watcher, on the other hand, looked increasingly frustrated with each passing minute. What was there to point at as evidence of cheating? A student who knew things? That wasn’t cheating. That was simply... strangely comprehensive knowledge that couldn’t be explained by normal student experience.

But expertise wasn’t against the rules, no matter how impossible it seemed for someone this young to possess it.

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Web Tunnels - Pursuing Group C

"This is ridiculous," the group leader declared, staring at the white silk walls that extended endlessly in every direction, a maze without apparent pattern. "Why are we following tunnels like idiots when we can make our own path?"

His tutor, an older man with experience in expeditions but clearly unfamiliar with this specific territory, frowned with a concern that experience had taught him to respect.

"The tunnels have existed for a long time for a reason," he said carefully, choosing words that wouldn’t sound like direct interference. "I suggest you think more before acting..."

"Because spiders like them," the leader interrupted with impatience born from youth and delusional certainty, dismissing wisdom he didn’t understand. "But we don’t like them... We can go straight through this and catch Patinder before he gets too far ahead."

The watcher assigned to their group observed in silence, seeing the tutor’s concern but not intervening. It wasn’t his job to prevent bad decisions, only to document them and ensure the tutor didn’t help directly in ways that would violate evaluation rules.

"What do you propose?" asked one of the team members, a boy with a fire beast whose hands were already glowing with anticipation of destruction.