Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 686: Chapter 686 - Taming the Fifth Year - Knowledge

”Any questions?” the announcer asked, his tone suggesting he really didn’t want to answer any, that he’d delivered his message and wanted nothing more than to escape the auditorium before protests began.

Nobody raised their hand.

Everyone was too busy processing the implications, minds working through scenarios and strategies. Some students looked relieved, thinking they now had a chance against the previously unbeatable champion. Others looked worried (Mostly Wolverine tamers), realizing that the rules planned to counter Ren also limited their own strategies and some of other students in unexpected ways.

And Ren...

Ren was simply thinking about Klein.

About how he’d avoided him for months.

About how now Klein would have to listen to him, to work with him, to be in close proximity for three days where avoidance was impossible.

About how this might be his only opportunity to fix whatever had broken between them... And to extract even a drop of information about what was said in that conversation between him and Luna.

The new rules, the Silver limit, quality over quantity...

None of that really mattered in the grand scheme.

Because at the end of the day, Ren knew he would win.

Not arrogance. Simple certainty born from understanding advantages others couldn’t see.

♢♢♢♢

Team assignments hadn’t been completely random despite the claims.

Leaders from the previous semester’s teams maintained their numbers, a continuity considered important for organizational structure. It was a small concession to merit.

Therefore, Ren remained head of team 15.

And that implied he’d be leader again more easily, the position already half-secured before discussion even began.

Not just because of numbers and the lottery that wasn’t quite as random as claimed. But because his teammates had already seen what happened when Ren directed operations at the end of last semester.

Victory after victory after victory, dominance so complete it seemed effortless.

So when the other three new members of his team gathered in the designated meeting area, the voting for leader was quick, almost perfunctory.

”All in favor of Ren as leader,” said one of them, a boy with a wind hawk that Ren vaguely recognized from group D. Someone competent enough to reach fifth year at the right age but not exceptional enough to stand out in memory.

Three hands shot up instantly, no hesitation or doubt in the gesture... followed by Klein’s after seeing there was no reason to argue the result, that resistance would be futile and would only make him look petty.

They didn’t even wait for Ren to respond, the decision made before he could accept or decline.

”Unanimity,” another declared with satisfaction. ”That was easy.”

The new members observed with varied expressions painting different stories across their faces. The hawk boy seemed relieved not to have to lead, shoulders relaxing as responsibility passed to someone else. The other two simply shrugged, clearly without objections to following the student who’d dominated every exam of the year.

”Then it’s decided,” Ren accepted the position without ceremony or false modesty. ”We’ll meet tomorrow at dawn to depart. Bring provisions for five days, even though we’ll only be there for three you’re going to burn a lot of energy.”

The extra provisions weren’t for emergencies. They were for the intensive work ahead, the constant movement and exertion that quality gathering required.

”Where are we going?” Klein asked, his voice cautious from months of avoided conversations. It was the first time he’d spoken directly to Ren in months, and the tension was there.

”To Silver ring 3, obviously,” Ren responded without hesitation, decision already made and strategy already planned. ”Southern zone... but on Yino’s side.”

The silence that followed was absolute.

Shocked...

Completely... The kind that came when people heard something so unexpected their minds needed time to process whether they’d heard correctly.

”Yino?” one of the original members repeated, surprise and concern mixing in his tone. ”Not Yano? But... everyone goes to Yano. It’s what we know. It’s what’s taught in class...”

”Exactly,” Ren looked at him directly, meeting his eyes with an authority that brooked no argument. ”Everyone goes to Yano. Which means everyone will be there. Competing for the same resources. We would be dealing with fighting students from all the schools too, if we stay.”

”But Yino...” another began, clearly worried about venturing into unknown territory. ”We don’t know anything about Yino. The beasts, the materials, the territories. It’s unknown territory.”

”For you it might be unknown,” Ren corrected with a patience that suggested he’d expected this objection. ”I know perfectly what’s there.”

He didn’t elaborate, didn’t need to explain or justify. His tone made clear this wasn’t a suggestion open to debate. It was the leader’s decision, and they’d voted him leader knowing exactly what that meant.

Klein observed him with an indecipherable expression, something shifting behind his eyes. There was something there, recognition perhaps of patterns... enough to understand that Ren’s terrain knowledge was an absolute advantage that changed all calculations.

”The Yino zone is open now,” Ren continued, providing context. ”There are no limitations on going there. The only reason very few teams will go is because very little is still taught about the zone in our academy. Students have little idea of the beasts and materials they can obtain there, making it seem riskier than it actually is.”

”But you do know,” Klein said softly, statement rather than question.

”Yes.”

Ren had lived years with the fungal network extending to even the gold rings in that direction, information flowing through mycelial connections that most people couldn’t even imagine.

The massive rift had limited his perception of the corrupted crystal and its underground roots; it was true that the rupture was cutting off certain channels of information. But the distribution of mana in the air was barely affected.

Because, while in the city and its atmosphere mana was very poor, it wasn’t like that from the Iron ring onward, in parts adjacent to the crack nor on top of it.

”Mooshito’s” surface (or aerial) network had acquired information even until Platinum for a while before Ren’s slip and loss of access to its live information, before his connection had been severed in that moment that had cost him so much.

But he didn’t need that much depth of knowledge.

His knowledge up to Silver was sufficient for this task, comprehensive enough to give him insurmountable advantages.

”What are we going to gather?” the hawk boy asked, now more interested than worried.

”Cloth,” Ren responded simply, the single word carrying implications he didn’t explain.

”Cloth?”