Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 262 - Tamers Homesickness

Ren watched the light of the twelve moons filter through the dormitory window as he took advantage of the relatively rare celestial alignment to prepare some crystals. His mushrooms pulsed gently, emitting a glow that rivaled the natural radiance of the night sky.

The day had been exhausting, especially considering all the questions heʼd fielded about the situation with the noble cousins, a situation which seemed to be relaxing very slowly.

The rumors about his ”kidnapping” of Larissa were gradually being replaced by new gossip, but the incident still earned him curious glances in the hallways.

His thoughts, however, were far from the academy.

They drifted to the small rented house where his parents, Reed and Fern, would probably be sleeping after a long day working in the kitchens. The image of them, exhausted but determined, faithfully following the ritual he had taught them, made his heart constrict.

He could almost smell the spices that would cling to their clothes, see the flour dusting his fatherʼs forearms.

”They should be receiving the first benefits by now,” he thought, mentally calculating the days that had passed. ”The change should be subtle but perceptible at this point.”

He ran his fingers over a crystal, feeling its cool surface warm at his touch. The worry about his parentsʼ financial situation gnawed at him more than he let others see. The rent as an extra expense would barely allow them to subsist.

An idea began to form in his mind, crystallizing like the formations he studied in the mines.

”The noble girls,” he murmured to himself, remembering something they had mentioned casually.

Wealthy people were known to have transport services for sending crystals to distant places in the city when conducting business. They even had specially trained birds for delivering urgent messages. Perhaps, although they might charge him a considerable amount, it would be worth it now that he had resources.

”I could ask Larissa or Liora to explain how it works,” he reflected, feeling the idea gaining strength. The more he considered it, the more obvious the solution seemed.

If he waited until the end of the semester, he could send a substantial portion of his final doubled prize to his parents. An amount that would immediately relieve any financial pressure they faced.

”Of course! Why didnʼt I think of this before?”

For Ren, the concept of sending letters or resources over distances was completely foreign to his everyday experience. Having lived his entire life in the only city he had contact with, and with the neighboring city as an enemy, like most, heʼd never had reason to consider communication or resource transport beyond urban limits.

The magic of contracted beasts facilitated water collection and mass food production in small spaces, eliminating the need for large external cultivation fields.

For this same reason, letters or transport were tools almost exclusively used by spies or businesspeople who needed to communicate quickly between the cityʼs extremes or between the only two cities in the world.

But he remembered Larissa mentioning something about these letters a few days earlier.

Liora had been asking Larissa about a letter that had fallen from Lunaʼs bag, which she had hurriedly picked up, almost in panic. The exchange had been brief but sufficient to remind Ren of the existence of these services, which heʼd first heard about from Han, who used them to communicate with his sister somewhere.

Ren nodded to himself, decided.

He would consult with the noble girls about the possibilities of distant transport and messaging. With what he had earned in the expedition, plus what he would receive at the end of the semester, he could send a significant amount to his parents.

A thunderous snore interrupted his musings. Min, as usual, was sleeping deeply in his bed, his body sprawled across the mattress as if trying to occupy as much space as possible. His snake coiled to his side and his amphibian sprawled peacefully above his pillow, nearly invisible in the dim light.

Taro, however, was still awake, meticulously reorganizing his battle notes for the next day.

Liu, from his bed by the other window, observed the night sky with a thoughtful expression, his banshee hyena was curled at his feet while his bat was hanging from the ceiling.

”Canʼt sleep?” Liu asked quietly, subtly activating his sound control so their conversation wouldnʼt disturb Min.

Ren sighed slightly.

”Just thinking.”

”Worried about the final battles?” Liu inquired, studying Renʼs expression with the increased perception his bat granted him.

Ren shook his head, his mushrooms pulsing with quiet confidence.

”Not really. The stone lurkerʼs evolution is just a bigger stone for the exam, one three meters tall, but a stone in the end. They didnʼt feed them any special minerals or allow them to cultivate their development at this level,” he explained calmly. ”If they give them the same daily amount of crystals in this mana-poor environment as Yang explained to us, then the best they can do is stay alive. Theyʼll never evolve since theyʼre not destined for higher classes…”

”So youʼre not worried about facing those enormous creatures with high defense?”

”A Bronze-1 beast wonʼt be any problem for our team,” Ren responded with confidence, his eyes reflecting the moonlight. ”Even less with the method Iʼve planned to eliminate it. You shouldnʼt worry either now if you do what I taught you...”

Liu narrowed his eyes, studying his roommate. The nocturnal vision his bat provided let him see details others might miss, the subtle tension in Renʼs shoulders, the careful way he compulsively arranged the crystals.

”Then the individual battles? Or the group ones?”

Ren smiled slightly, his mushrooms pulsing with a rhythm that Liu already recognized as his version of amusement.

”Iʼm not worried about those either. And if I face you in an individual battle, Iʼll kick your ass even though weʼre friends.”

”Receive me as... the tournament champion...” Min mumbled between dreams, turning in his bed and hugging his snake as if it were a trophy, interrupting Liu who had just opened his mouth to say something.

Taro and Liu looked at each other and couldnʼt contain silent laughter. However, there was something more in their expressions, a spark of challenge, of determination.

”You seem very confident,” commented Taro, joining the conversation. ”Maybe youʼll be surprised if you underestimate someone youʼve strengthened so much.”

”Or some-two,” added Liu, his banshee hyena emitting a silent growl of approval.

Ren looked at both of them, appreciating the competitive spirit that had emerged between them. They were no longer the same insecure boys discarded in the gray wing on the first day, fearful of their poor potential. Now they stood tall with confidence, aware of their worth.

”I guess weʼll find out over the next few days,” Ren responded, genuinely pleased with his friendsʼ transformation. A surge of pride warmed his chest.

”Then go to sleep already,” advised Liu, gradually deactivating his sound field. ”Tomorrow begins the infamous battle week.”

His face took on a more serious expression, shadows deepening the lines around his eyes.

”And if you donʼt give a good performance, the same thing that happened to me the past two semesters will happen to you,” he warned. ”And youʼll have to repeat.”

Ren nodded, aware of the importance of the challenge that awaited them. The exams werenʼt just academic hurdles, they were potential life changers. Success or failure here could alter their trajectories permanently.

”Iʼll rest,” he promised, settling under the blankets.

While the others prepared to sleep, Ren couldnʼt help taking one last look at the moons. Somewhere, under that same sky, his parents continued their struggle, trusting in him. And he had no intention of letting them down.

His mind worked on strategies for the coming battles, but also on the necessary steps to help his family. The path that had begun with that gray spore, considered the weakest beast, now expanded in directions he could never have imagined.

The mushrooms in his hair pulsed with a slow, steady rhythm as sleep finally claimed him. Their glow dimmed gradually, synchronizing with his deepening breaths.

In another part of the academy, other students were also preparing in their own way for the coming challenges.

Klein Goldcrest meticulously reviewed the possible combinations of opponents, calculating his chances of victory in each scenario. His golden lion, now at Bronze 1, roared softly beside him, eager to demonstrate its superiority. The beastʼs mane shimmered with some actual gold flecks, a sign of its enhanced status.

”I just need to defeat him decisively,” Klein muttered to himself, fingers tapping nervously on his desk. ”An absolute victory that no one can question.”

Luna Starweaver, in her own room, silently practiced the movements she had perfected over weeks.

”This time will be different,” she promised in the solitude of her room, her voice barely above a whisper. ”This time Iʼll prove my worth.”

Even the professors felt the tension that preceded battle week. Lin and Yang reviewed the pairings one last time, ensuring the system was fair but revealing. The lists spread across Linʼs desk, names arranged in patterns that would test both skill and character.

”Do you think your pupil this semester will live up to expectations?” asked Yang, studying Renʼs name on the list. Lamplight glinted off his stone-hardened skin.

Lin smiled, remembering the exhausted child from her first lessons, comparing him to the disciplined young man he had become.

”I believe,” she responded cautiously, her eyes twinkling with something like pride, ”that everyone is about to get a surprise.”

While the academy slept, the expectations and ambitions of its occupants converged on a single point: the tournament that would begin at dawn.

And at the center of it all, sleeping deeply in his bed in the gray wing, Ren Patinder, the spore boy, the paradigm transformer, the one who defied all predictions... dreamed of impossible beasts and a future that extended beyond the limits of the known.