Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 797

Chapter 797: Chapter 797 - Taming the Fifth Year - New Self

Mayo and Matilda released Larissa’s hand and she just leaned with a small nod.

No excessive triumph in her expression. No dramatic relief.

Only quiet confirmation that her calculations had been correct from the start. That the result had been exactly what she’d anticipated before the battle even began.

Mayo and Matilda withdrew from the field with expressions mixing frustration and acceptance. They’d lost decisively. But they’d given a decent battle with what they had available. There was no real shame in that outcome.

"Good luck with your inevitable humiliation!" Mayo called back from the distance with a cheerful wave.

Larissa nodded toward them politely while deliberately ignoring the continued nonsense.

But despite everything, there was respect between the warriors. Even in defeat, they maintained their dignity and camaraderie.

♢♢♢♢

TWO BRACKETS EARLIER

The Master had announced the pairing with a voice that resonated across the field.

"Team Twenty-Nine against Team Seventeen."

Klein had felt something tense settle in his stomach a day ago when he’d first seen the composition of the opposing team’s roster.

It wasn’t a team from the academy he currently attended. It was a group from another institution participating in the fifth-year joint examinations.

Normally that wouldn’t be particularly notable since it was standard for fifth year and he’d already faced another external team in the first battle without issue.

Except Klein had recognized two names on the list immediately.

Feng.

Astor.

His former followers from "darker" times.

The boys who had been with him during his most arrogant period. Who had fed his ego relentlessly. Who had followed his orders without question or independent thought.

Who probably hated him now for making them waste so much time as subordinates, time they’d now feel was squandered when Klein lost his family standing and political backing. And probably also for how he’d changed since then. For how he’d "betrayed" what they represented by aligning himself with a "commoner" like Ren.

Klein hadn’t seen them in considerable time before this fifth year. Not since after his entire world had collapsed around him. Not since after he’d realized how completely wrong he’d been about... everything that mattered.

And now he would have to face them in direct combat.

In front of judges and spectators.

Part of him felt uncomfortable with that prospect. Not from fear of losing... Klein knew his capabilities had grown substantially. But from the inherent awkwardness of fighting against people he’d once considered allies, however misguided that alliance had been.

But another part of him...

Another part felt strangely appropriate about this confrontation.

Like closing a circle. Like severing final ties with the version of himself he no longer wanted to be.

Klein walked toward his designated position on the field with steady steps.

And summoned his lion.

The lion materialized in an explosion of golden mana that made the air shimmer.

Because Feng and Astor weren’t using Ren’s methods.

Probably from pride preventing them from accepting help. Probably because accepting those methods would mean admitting many things intrinsically about their previous approach.

Or simply because they didn’t have proper access. Ren’s most complete methods were shared generously with those who trained near him regularly. But many beast-specific refinements weren’t distributed massively to other academies yet.

Only the plant cultivation methods, which almost every common person had access to, were more complete in their public distribution.

Regardless of the reason...

Klein possessed an advantage they wouldn’t anticipate.

"Begin," the teacher ordered.

Feng immediately commanded his beast to attack first. Aggressively. As if wanting to prove a point through force.

The cobra fired venom from its mouth in a concentrated projectile. Not a simple spit but weaponized poison that crossed the distance in a fraction of a second.

Aimed directly at the lion’s center mass.

Klein had already ordered evasion before the venom fully left the cobra’s mouth. The lion moved laterally with smooth motion.

The venom passed by grazing range. Impacted the ground where the lion had been standing half a second earlier. Earth hissing and smoking where the acidic poison touched it.

Feng frowned at the miss. Fired again with adjusted aim. Then another shot. Four consecutive attacks, trying to predict the lion’s movement pattern.

All failed to connect.