Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 698

Chapter 698: Chapter 698 - Taming the Fifth Year - Optional Paths - 7

"How much do we have?" Ren finally asked, when his team began reporting they couldn’t carry more without compromising mobility.

"The backpacks are at maximum even in the backs of our beasts," the girl responded, adjusting straps that cut into their shoulders under weight. "And your Wolverine..."

"Full too," Ren confirmed, feeling the weight through the bond like phantom pressure. "Good... This should be sufficient for the first trip."

"Sufficient for the first trip?" another laughed, almost hysterically with exhaustion and disbelief mixed. "Ren, this is... this surely is worth more than what most teams gather even if you gave them a full week."

"First place is what we came to get," Ren shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal yet. "The majority doesn’t matter, but I know several who will obtain very good quantities too, so we can’t be overconfident... Now we have to return and do 2 more trips, way faster than this one."

He looked toward the marked tunnel they’d followed to arrive here. The blackened silk and marks he’d left could be seen in the distance, guiding them back like breadcrumbs through the labyrinth.

"But don’t worry, the return trip will be faster easily," he announced with confidence born from his careful planning. "We already know the way. And most of the spiders already evaluated us. They won’t bother us if we don’t provoke them."

Zhao smiled openly now, clearly proud of his student in ways that went beyond professional satisfaction.

The Strahlfang watcher seemed to be reevaluating every assumption he’d had about this student, about commoners, about what education versus innate talent could produce.

And Klein...

Klein finally understood why Luna had fallen for Ren despite all the social barriers and family situations that should have prevented it.

Why people as important as Larissa and Liora always followed him, seeking his company and guidance.

Why even the nobles who hated him couldn’t deny his results, couldn’t dismiss achievements too concrete to ignore.

It wasn’t luck or circumstances aligning impossibly.

It wasn’t cheating or outside help distorting competition.

It was simply that Ren Patinder operated on a completely different level from the rest of them.

Without any doubt...

They were going to win again.

And it wasn’t going to be even remotely close.

♢♢♢♢

Web Tunnels - Pursuing Group C - 26 Hours Since Exam Start

"Another one!" the leader shouted, his beast dispatching the Bronze 2 Greater Agile Weaver with a blow that crushed it against the wall with a sickening crunch.

The spider collapsed, its legs bending at impossible angles while body fluids spilled over the silk in spreading stains.

It was the tenth they’d killed in the last hour alone.

And they kept coming.

"Where the hell are they all coming from?" one member gasped, exhausted by constant combat that didn’t let them rest or gather properly.

Their tutor observed with a worried expression, trying to understand the pattern that wasn’t making sense. They’d entered the tunnels already over a day ago. Twenty-six hours of slow advance, guessing routes, fighting against spiders that seemed to multiply with each hour that passed.

"It doesn’t make sense," the tutor murmured to himself. "Weavers are territorial but there shouldn’t be this density everywhere. It’s like if..."

Another spider appeared from a side tunnel. Silver 1 this time since they were at the border between zones, larger, more dangerous with venom that could seriously hurt the Silver rank students.

The team launched into combat, dispatching it after an exchange that left two of them with minor venom wounds that burned and slowed their reactions.

The tutor approached the body, observing how the fluids mixed with the tunnel floor silk. He knelt, sniffing cautiously despite the beast acrid smell.

And understood with dawning horror.

"Stop," he ordered, his voice cutting through the group’s exhaustion. "Stop killing them."

"What?" the leader looked at him like he’d lost his mind. "You want us to let ourselves be surrounded?"

"I want to ’suggest’ you stop calling more," the tutor pointed to the multiple spider bodies scattered through the tunnel behind them, a trail of corpses marking their passage. "The fluids... They combine with the silk and roots. They give off a different smell."

"So?"

"And I think that smell calls them," the tutor stood up, his expression grim with realization of their mistake. "Each spider you kill sends a signal. More come to investigate. Kill those, and more come. It’s an endless cycle like this..."

The silence that followed was heavy. They’d been creating their own problem through ignorance, making everything worse with each "victory".

"So... what do we do?" someone asked, voice small, tired and even a little afraid.

The tutor looked forward, toward where the tunnels continued indefinitely into white darkness.

"Escape or avoid," he said finally. "As you should have been doing from the beginning. Only fighting if there’s no alternative and moving away from the corpse routes."

Web Tunnels - Ren’s Group - Bronze 1

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