Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 670

Chapter 670: Chapter 670 - Taming the Fifth Year: 1st Gathering Exam - 8

The Mirror Mantis clung to the bark of one of the giants, its body perfectly camouflaged against the rough texture.

Invisible... One with the tree.

Its compound eyes constantly scanned.

Looking for a "safe" route jumping from tree to tree.

Avoiding the golden 3 sprouts.

Subterranean beasts that hunted by pressure sensation, detecting the weight of prey on the surface and emerging in explosions of vegetal violence to drag them underground.

The Mantis knew this.

Had learned through the information Ren had shared across their bond.

The ground was death. Its perfect camouflage didn’t work there.

Underground, illusions meant nothing. Mirrors were useless when buried in earth and root.

But the trees...

The trees were life.

It jumped.

Its mirror body briefly reflected the foliage and roots before becoming invisible against the next branch. Its legs gripped the ancient wood, silent, creating no vibrations that could alert predators.

Perfect execution thanks to its instincts.

Another jump.

And another.

Moving like a ghost between the giants, each leap incredibly light.

Too far and it would fall. Too close to the trunk and the noise would give it away.

But the Mantis was patient.

Patience was survival. Patience was the difference between life and death in an ecosystem that punished any mistakes.

It had been patient for two complete days, moving slowly toward the northeast from the south. Now that it had arrived close, always toward the east, the forest’s mana became heavier, the amount of energy for its small body felt... wrong.

Oppressive... Like breathing water instead of air.

Its system was nearly overloaded, breaking down from the inside. Internal structures straining under pressure they weren’t designed to handle.

But it only had to endure until it could take a small look.

Just a glimpse. Just enough to see what Ren needed to know.

Only the large bonuses from the other beasts, channeling through the quadruple bond Ren had forged (and the beast’s unique nature), had kept it working until now.

Without that support, it would have already dissolved. Scattered back into formless mana.

It was very close to that entrance where there had been a tree shaped like a claw.

The place Ren had promised not to go.

Ren had promised not to go.

But the Mantis wasn’t Ren.

And what it saw...

What its mirror surfaces reflected...

Ren would see too.

Mirror Mantises were known for projecting illusions to lure their prey. Ren had seen, as his ten years old self, a dysfunctional example of the ability, but it had given him an idea. One that had worked beyond his wildest expectations.

Ren’s Jade Mirror Mantis was much more special, and its illusions more flexible.

Through the small crystal fragment of his mantis summoned in front of his eye, he could see a small illusion that floated constantly before his left eye, almost invisible to everyone except him.

A window through the crystal mirrors of his smallest and "weakest" beast. But without doubt not the least equipped in support and stealth capabilities.

Ren was fulfilling his promise to the letter... while completely violating its spirit of "not seeing".

Still, "you won’t like what you see" wasn’t enough reason for Ren not to feed his curiosity. His greatest weakness.

The thing that drove him forward. The thing that got him in trouble.

Yet the thing that made him who he was.

But he made a promise, so he wouldn’t go personally.

So he’d send one of ’his eyes’.

And perhaps, in the depths of that giant forest...

He’d understand something everyone else had failed to understand.

Or at least...

He’d find the truth of what had happened to Luna’s father. The truth that gnawed at him. That kept him awake at night and demanded answers no matter the cost.

♢♢♢♢

The mantis continued advancing perfectly hidden.

But it wasn’t just camouflage keeping it alive here.

A normal bronze 1 mantis would love this mana density but would never have survived here. Would never have even passed the silver rings.

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