Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 949 - Taming Longing

Ren felt it…

The sensation had no physical equivalent. But it was deeply pleasant again. Like scratching an itch that had been bothering him for years.

 And that made it worse. Because part of him wanted it. Wanted to finally be free, the restrictions broken and the limiters removed.

There was already sufficient space in the coreʼs rift for the interior luminosity trying to escape not to blind too much.

Selthia inclined forward and looked through the widened crack with the focused stillness of someone reading an important document. Her eyes sharpened… Then her expression changed.

Not rage. Something adjacent to it, but quieter and more specific… The particular irritation of someone who has just discovered they arrived too late. ”So they were already using it,” she murmured, more to herself than to him.

”Unexpectedly they gave priority to the birth rather than getting the food for it first… Morons.”

She straightened slightly without releasing the crack, and Ren could see the exact moment when she reoriented the persuasion effort.

”The mutants have claimed more ground outside. Volume, connections, external architecture, we hold a huge advantage there, no question.” She paused. ”But this specific seed inside you, I have to agree, itʼs a permanent advantage, thatʼs no longer ours to take. Seems your friend got you down there ahead of us and now itʼs ruined.”

 She articulated with that almost academic calm Ren had noticed from the beginning. Without drama, without theatricality. Like doing inventory or analyzing a failed experiment among thousands of others. Like processing data rather than experiencing emotion. ”At least we gained information.” Her gaze moved briefly past him, toward something he couldnʼt see. ”Since thereʼs apparently nothing too important left for us beneath this castle... I only need to do one last thing before we move on to the other side and secure the half we need.” Her eyes came back to him, and there was something in them now that didnʼt quite fit the rest of her composure. Something that hadnʼt been there before. ”One last thing... Itʼll only take a moment.”

Something approaching genuine emotion.

She thrust her arm through the crack.

Slowly... The careful delicacy of someone who doesnʼt want to wake a guardian beast while poisoning its food. Her crystallized fingers moved toward the jade seed covered in pulsing golden light tendrils, visible now at the center of his core with a clarity that only existed in this interior space.

 She almost extended it.

And the golden light detonated.

 There was no warning.

No gradual intensity increase giving the girl time to withdraw her hand. It went from sleep to absolute power in a fraction of a second, a concentrated pulse that unfolded outward, fully and all at once, at a magnitude Ren had never seen in any skill from any tamer heʼd ever met.

She was thrown backward.

It wasnʼt a controlled flight. It was the kind of involuntary movement that happens when something fully outstrips the bodyʼs ability to resist, completely and without negotiation. She crossed the empty space of the library, which had no shelves or books left to break her path, and hit something invisible at the edge of the interior space with enough force that the entire architecture shuddered around them.

The impact was soundless but overwhelming. Spiritual rather than physical, but no less devastating. She remained still for a moment.

 Then, from where she was, a sound was heard that Ren took a second to identify.  Dry... Almost amused.

A laugh.

Not the laugh of someone who was fine. From someone just receiving something they didnʼt expect and processing it. From someone finding humor in their own failure because the alternative was acknowledging how badly theyʼd just lost. From someone whose plans had just shattered and who was coping through dark amusement.

 Then a voice came from inside Renʼs chest.

 Muffled. Like speaking from behind a thick wall, from a floor below or from somewhere that was technically in the same space but not fully present in it.

But still recognizable.

”Are you going to ruin it just because you canʼt have it? Itʼs too early for our seed to grow. And certainly not with a fertilizer that disgusting... Get lost, contaminate somewhere else with your garbage.”

Ren didnʼt breathe for two seconds.

The voice… That voice, that was familiar beyond familiar. Sarcastic yet educational. Everything heʼd been missing compressed into some words that he didnʼt think would hear today. That had to be hallucination or desperation or wishful thinking.

But it was real... Was there. Was his mushroom speaking for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Seemingly still with him despite everything.

The voice continued, with the slightly irritated tone of someone dragged out of a nap before they were ready, still putting the pieces together.

”And you.” A pause. ”Stop doing stupid things just because you miss me. We need the platinum node first. Thatʼs the next objective, in order to grow this thing correctly. Donʼt you dare skip steps!”

Ren opened his mouth… Closed it.

Words wouldnʼt come, couldnʼt come. Too many emotions competing for expression, relief, confusion, joy, fear, gratitude and a lot of questions. All tangled together into a knot that couldnʼt untangle fast enough to form coherent sentences.

His mushroom was talking. Was treating this like theyʼd never been separated. Like the barrier between them was minor inconvenience rather than wall Ren thought might be permanent.

Something tight in his chest had gone loose. Something that had been a quiet wound for a long time, the absence of a presence so familiar it had stopped registering as anything other than painful silence.

”And to remove these annoying intruders you already know what you have to do. Youʼve known since the tomboy girlʼs fire.” Another pause, briefer. ”If the fire felt a bit bad, thatʼs the correct sensation… Means it was working. Those telling you everything should feel good are the ones scamming you!”

 From the libraryʼs other side, the girl still laughed but hadnʼt moved again.