Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 195 - Taming Fame - 7

”Are you sure about this?” Han asked, looking at the narrow space with apprehension.

”Absolutely,” Renʼs voice came from inside. ”Itʼs time to head for the real objective.”

Min and Taro exchanged knowing looks before following him into the darkness.

Larissa smiled at her cousins, her eyes gleaming with barely contained curiosity.

One by one, they slipped through the crack. The ʼstudentsʼ took strategic positions to keep watch while the group entered.

Luna was the last to pass through. Before entering, her eyes swept the area one final time. There was something about the way Ren had been searching, something in the precision of his movements...

”You werenʼt lost at all, were you?” she murmured as she slid through the opening. ”You knew exactly what you were looking for from the beginning.”

Renʼs mushrooms pulsed softly in the darkness, but he offered no response.

”This way,” he directed his hydra. ”I need a tunnel descending at a forty-five-degree angle in that direction.”

”Taro,” he turned to his friend, ”could you start lining it with living minerals? And...” he looked at the girl with the earth wolverine, ”your help would be useful at the front with my hydra.”

The girl frowned. ”Iʼm not your excavation tool.”

”Shizu,” Larissa intervened with a smile that brooked no argument. ”Please help Ren make the tunnel.”

The girl sighed but nodded, her manifested wolverine joining the digging efforts.

While they began working, Han and Mira approached Ren timidly.

”Um,” Han started, ”about our beasts...”

”Could you tell us if weʼre doing anything wrong?” Mira completed the question.

”Weʼll pay whatever you want when we can, or you can ask us for favors...” Han added.

Ren turned to Larissa with narrowed eyes, a clear reproach for not having offered anything in exchange for the information heʼd given her earlier. The princess simply smiled, completely immune to his accusing gaze.

”Donʼt worry about that,” Ren sighed. ”Just... remember that I helped you if I ever need your support.”

”Just that?” Kira, the girl with the giant goat, arched an eyebrow. ”Youʼre not very greedy for an outskirts boy.”

Renʼs mushrooms pulsed as he responded: ”My parents have lived a long life, and they always taught me that the most important things are the connections you make with people around you, not what you can get from them.”

”Why?” Matilda asked.

”Because we all might end up needing help in life,” Ren explained, his mushrooms emitting a gentle glow. ”Even the richest... or so my father said. And I believe him.”

He turned to Mira: ”Your cultivation is going well, but you need to change when you expose your crystals to seal the process. Use the midday sun for 20 minutes instead of morning light.”

”Why?” Mira asked, genuinely curious.

”Solar energy is more intense and pure at that point,” Ren explained. ”Your giant rat needs that specific density to properly develop its plants.”

Then he addressed Han: ”Your spider is also on the right track, but you need to change the web youʼre using. Common weaver web isnʼt optimal. You need greater weaver spider web from your own species.”

”But thatʼs harder to get,” Han protested.

”And more expensive for being Bronze rank,” Ren added. ”But a higher-rank web is what weavers consume when they hatch from the cocoon left by a higher-rank one to cover the cores they collect and turn into eggs...”

”...Also...” Ren searched his knowledge, ”what rune did they suggest?”

Han scratched his head, ”they recommended using an attack rune for sealing...”

”Use an agility one,” Ren interrupted. ”I know the hunter spider that would be the evolution from the method youʼre following seems to have more potential because records say it reaches Silver 3 while the weaver only reaches Silver 1, but thatʼs a mistake.”

Hanʼs eyes widened in surprise. ”A mistake?”

”Unlike the hunter, the weaver can surpass Silver rank,” Ren nodded, his mushrooms pulsing with certainty. ”It just needs the correct cultivation method.”

Han and Mira stood contemplating, seemingly trying to burn the information into their minds.

Larissa appeared at Renʼs side, practically hanging off his arm.

”Since you gave me that reproachful look, letʼs make something clear,” she smiled mischievously while whispering in his ear, ”you forced me to be a double tamer, so youʼll have to take responsibility.”

”Wasnʼt that what you really wanted? Mana doesnʼt lie...” Ren blinked in confusion.

”Of course,” Larissa nodded with feigned seriousness. ”But you gave me that potion without warning and without my consent. Now youʼll have to help me with the whole process to redeem your misdeeds.”

”Well yes, thinking about it that way youʼre right that it was wrong but...” Ren began to protest.

”No buts,” Larissa smiled. ”Youʼre already stuck with me in this.”

As the group continued advancing, Han and Mira exchanged glances. There was something comforting about how Ren shared his knowledge so freely, asking only friendship in return.

”You know,” Han murmured to Mira, ”I think we can really trust him.”

Mira nodded, watching how Renʼs mushrooms illuminated the path ahead. For the first time since arriving at the academy, she felt they had found true allies.

Ren resigned himself. ”Alright, I would have helped you with the information without asking for anything anyway... It was just that Mira and Han looked better than you...”

”I was joking, Iʼll support you without doubt when you need it in return.” Larissa smiled and stuck closer to Ren, amused by his reactions.

Luna observed the interaction from the side, her eyes narrowing at her cousinʼs boldness in invading personal space... She would never do something like that with... Her cheeks colored slightly at the thought and she quickly looked away.

”Oh!” Larissa, who had noticed her cousinʼs blush and reaction, smiled mischievously and moved close to her...

”What do we have here? I smell jealousy in the air...” She whispered in Lunaʼs ear.

”I donʼt know what youʼre talking about,” Luna responded with dignity, though her cheeks burned brighter.

”Really?” Larissa practically hung off Renʼs arm again. ”Doesnʼt he have a nice face when heʼs explaining things?”

”Larissa!” Luna protested, her wolf ears and tail manifesting and bristling in reflection of her embarrassment.

”Y-you shouldnʼt do that,” Ren tried to free himself from Larissaʼs grip, his mushrooms pulsing erratically. ”Weʼre in a dangerous place and...”

Larissa laughed. ”Isnʼt Luna adorable?”

Ren was about to respond and Luna about to shout when the ground began to tremble.