Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Mayo’s cloud bird was fast with good mobility. Had decent water control and some wind manipulation as well. Could generate mist that reduced visibility significantly, and could create currents that made opponents’ movement more difficult.

But its defense was mediocre at best. If you could reach it through the obscuring mist, if you could force a direct exchange…

It fell relatively easily to short range assaults.

Matilda’s beast, the tree turtle, was more robust in terms of durability but far less mobile. Could control the battlefield effectively by establishing dangerous zones that opponents had to avoid.

But it required considerable time to establish those traps properly. Required that opponents with elemental advantage over wood element, specifically fire users, didn’t pressure it too rapidly before its defenses were ready.

Together as a coordinated unit, they covered each other’s weaknesses perfectly. The bird created mist that made seeing the traps nearly impossible and crucially weakened fire attacks significantly through moisture saturation making the wood stronger too. The wolf, when Luna participated, created fast offensive pressure that bought them the necessary time to finish their setup through its effectiveness in individual combat.

It was a solid approach that had functioned well in many previous exams.

But now that they would be separated and without Luna’s coordination… Larissa knew their weaknesses intimately.

She had trained with them. Had observed how they operated hundreds of times during joint exercises.

And now she had the perfect occasion to practice the rarely used moves with her least-used beast.

The Lynx.

Larissa manifested it in an explosion of mana. An elegant creature the size of a large carriage in terms of mass, so thinner and longer. Silver-white fur that seemed to undulate like solid mist in constant motion, long divided antlers that branched like tree limbs and eyes that gleamed with intelligence bordering on unsettling awareness.

Specialized in wind element, speed enhancement, and sensory perception.

And that wind control was more refined, more precisely controlled than anything Mayo’s cloud bird could produce through natural ability.

“Disperse,” Larissa ordered simply without elaboration.

The Lynx channeled mana while maintaining constant, and fast, agile movements to dodge the “mediocre” water attacks being launched at it.

Wind exploded from its position in an expansive wave when it accumulated enough mana. Not in a chaotic gust but a precisely controlled current.

The mist that Mayo had begun generating to obscure the battlefield…

Dissipated instantaneously under the assault.

Not just pushed to one side but completely scattered. The water droplets suspended in the air were dragged in different directions simultaneously, distributing so widely around Mayo’s beast they could no longer create effective opacity for it.

Mayo frowned at the immediate counter, ordering her bird to generate more mist with greater haste. Attempting to overcome the dispersion while escaping with pure volume.

But the Lynx simply exhaled again with focused intent in the bird’s body.

And again the mist disappeared as if it had never existed.

It was a battle for environmental control. Mayo’s bird versus Larissa’s Lynx in direct elemental confrontation.

But the Lynx possessed a significant advantage in this matchup.

Not just in raw attack power. But in elemental specialization that made all the difference.

The Lynx was designed specifically for wind control even better than most winged beasts. Every aspect of its species, every ability it had developed through cultivation, optimized for manipulating air currents with ease.

The cloud bird was more generalist in its capabilities. Could do several things decently well. But nothing exceptionally beyond normal parameters.

And in a direct battle where the wind element was the dominant factor, specialization versus versatility…

Specialization won decisively.

After the second failed attempt to establish a persistent mist, Mayo changed tactics with visible frustration. She ordered the bird to ascend rapidly. Gain altitude where the Lynx would theoretically be less effective due to being a ground-based quadrupedal.

It was a reasonable maneuver given normal assumptions.

Except the Lynx could fly as well…

Or run through air? (AN: It was an ability and speed that didn’t envy anything to a certain red-nosed reindeer and his delivery team.)

Larissa had trained in aerial movement in relative secrecy during the months when her double-bonding was starting to be less hidden, and since she’d been able to use it more openly… It was easier to find a supposedly forbidden beast if you were riding it high in the air.

Even though she liked the feeling of the air on her face. Ever since the day she’d sped in to save Ren, she’d realized she preferred experiencing flight this way, much better than making disorienting leaps through space.

But when it became a “no real problem” situation… They had spent more time in the air than on solid ground.

Also because she knew they would eventually face opponents who would attempt using that type of aerial advantage against a beast without wings.

An advantage that should be intuitive and decisive… but with Larissa’s beast cultivated in Ren’s style, it was an advantage that simply didn’t exist.

“Pursue,” Larissa ordered with calm confidence.

The Lynx leaped upward, Its hind legs propelling it ten meters vertically in an explosive burst of force. Wind element manifesting beneath it, creating small invisible platforms under its paws that provided purchase in empty air.

The bird attempted climbing faster in response. Beating its wings desperately to gain altitude.

But the Lynx generated wind currents superior to the bird’s own that pushed downward from above. Pressure that made each wing beat less effective. That reduced the elevation the bird could gain with each stroke.

And while the bird struggled against the contrary wind working against it…

The Lynx continued ascending using its own currents for propulsion in perfect control.

The gap closed rapidly between predator and prey.

The bird could no longer escape vertically as its primary strategy.

It attempted an evasive maneuver in desperation. Sharp turn toward the right, trying to use its natural agility to break away.

But the Lynx’s agility was also superior and it anticipated the movement. Generated another current that pushed from that exact counter-side preemptively. Forcing the bird back toward the center.

It was the perfect three-dimensional hunt in action. A predator that understood its prey movement patterns better than the prey understood itself.

The Lynx closed the final distance with a burst of speed.