Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 842 - Taming the Fifth Year - How High Can You Go?

Meanwhile, the field began changing slowly again in ways that took a moment for spectators to process completely.

10 spikes were born in a circle around the field, structures emerging from the ground in a symmetric design surrounding the combat area.

They rose gradually, earth compacting and shaping itself according to the wolverineʼs will. Each spike was positioned at precise intervals, 36 degrees apart, forming a perfect circle with the Bashe floating at approximately the center.

But also, different stakes were growing in the 4 corners of the arena and in the exact center, 5 points that didnʼt follow the same pattern as the 10 in the circle.

The wolverine stopped halfway through the process, pausing to recharge its external mana, then returned to work.

The energy drain was big. The wolverineʼs movements became slightly less fluid during the pause, like an athlete catching their breath between sprints. But it was fine since it was hidden underground…

Liora thought of attacking, but calculated that there was too much mana left in Renʼs beast so waiting for it to waste more was a better bet.

Then the wolverine finished, external reserves restored, it resumed with renewed vigor.

The 10 stakes in the circle were specifically designed to be launched as projectiles.

They were pointed and aerodynamic, shapes that would minimize air resistance during flight and would penetrate defenses more effectively than irregularly formed structures. The angles were carefully calculated, each stake tilted slightly inward so its trajectory would converge on the floating Basheʼs position.

It was obvious to anyone with basic ballistics knowledge that these were the 10 stakes Ren planned to use in the final assault against the Bashe.

But the other 5 stakes were strange in comparison.

Less aerodynamic, thicker at the base and growing vertically instead of at angles… Their purpose wasnʼt immediately apparent to most observers watching them develop.

They looked almost like towers rather than weapons. Structures rather than projectiles. Some spectators squinted, trying to understand what they were seeing.

”What are those for?”

”Supports? Anchors?”

”Maybe just decoys? Make her focus on the wrong threat?”

Liora didnʼt completely understand what those 5 structures were meant to do.

She could guess they served some purpose in Renʼs overall strategy, heʼd never built anything to waste mana without reason, but the specific function eluded her. They werenʼt placed to block escape routes or angled to launch. They just... stood there, growing slowly taller.

But Taro and Larissa understood, recognition hitting them almost simultaneously when the 5 began behaving in ways that confirmed their suspicion.

The stakes in the 4 corners and center of the arena began absorbing all the rock and roots from the field into their bases, a process accelerating visibly with each moment.

The field that had been shaped like a small hill during previous battles, that elevated terrain created by elemental manipulation, now flattened bit by bit as material was drained toward the 5 growing structures by that exact same manipulation.

Earth flowed like liquid toward their bases. Roots took mana from deep underground networks to grow and integrate into the structures. The entire arenaʼs accumulated elemental construction, all the modifications from earlier matches, now being repurposed into these 5 vertical towers.

”Oh,” Larissa breathed. ”Oh, thatʼs clever.”

Taro grinned despite his injuries, recognition bringing genuine delight to his face. ”Heʼs doing it. Heʼs actually doing it in a real fight.”

Larissa understood what was happening from general observation and her own combat experience.

It made sense that it also saved in mana using the roots channels to get some from around 100 meters deep.

But Taro especially recognized it because heʼd done this with Ren many times during training and practice sessions that had no real purpose except entertainment.

It was a very masculine obsession, an informal competition about who could make the tallest construction using earth and wood elemental control working together.

Seeing ”how high you could go” with a structure you had to maintain stable without collapse. It was a challenge that had begun as a simple game but had become a serious project as both refined techniques and competed for records.

”Mineʼs 150 meters!” Taro would shout.

”182 meters,” Ren would respond calmly, his tower growing taller.

”Damn it. 30 meters!”

”32.”

The stakes grew upward without stopping, constructions that were perfect in structural aspects.

Very rectangular. Thicker at the base to support the weight of upper sections. With an internal core of braided roots providing tensile strength that simple compressed earth alone couldnʼt match.

It was elemental engineering in its most refined form, application of principles that Ren and Taro had perfected during countless hours of experimentation.

Trial and error. Failure and success. Collapse and breakthrough. Every fallen tower had taught them something, every stable structure had validated a hypothesis. The knowledge accumulated like sediment, layer upon layer of understanding building until mastery emerged.

Taro realized this was the ”perfect form” theyʼd developed together.

His throat tightened slightly with unexpected emotion. Theyʼd spent so many afternoons on this. Hours that had seemed wasted at the time, juvenile competition with no practical application. And now, watching it deployed in actual combat...

Both had already built ”the tallest possible tower” many times, each iteration improving on the previous as they discovered what ratios of base thickness to total height were necessary for maximum stability.

A Minecraft player would be genuinely proud of how thin theyʼd managed to develop the design for extremely tall vertical construction. It defied intuition… something so slender shouldnʼt be able to support itself at such heights. But the math worked and the physics held.

Little by little theyʼd figured out exactly what was needed so height and weight wouldnʼt collapse it upon itself under pressure from gravity alone.

Theyʼd discovered that a braided root core was better for preventing fractures than solid earth all the way through. The roots provided flexibility that absorbed stress rather than concentrating it at failure points.

Theyʼd discovered how much thicker the base had to be as height increased. The weight distribution demanded careful calculation.

Theyʼd experimented with what type of earth needed to be compressed and reinforced in specific layers for appropriate stress distribution.

In the end theyʼd achieved a structure so good and straight it exceeded the Sky Tasty towers by a considerable margin, an accomplishment both had celebrated with the satisfaction of having mastered a big challenge.