Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 865 - Taming the Fifth Year - Price of Family - 2

Selphira had alleged the current configuration was fundamentally superior anyway.

She was similar to Victor in terms of raw power but considerably more dangerous in practical application because she had many more ”years of experience” making her more difficult to startle or trap with tactics that would work against a younger tamer.

You could easily say 4 centuries of experience. But that wasnʼt hyperbole or estimation… It was 4 actual centuries.

Sheʼd seen things, fought battles and survived situations that had killed better-prepared people. Made mistakes and learned from them when younger tamers would have died making those same mistakes.

Her control over beasts was more refined. Her combat instincts sharper. Her understanding of how to read situations and adapt strategies in real-time more developed.

Victor was strong, maybe top 1 in the kingdom in terms of pure power capability. But he was young… Still making mistakes that experience would eventually teach him not to make.

Selphira made different mistakes. The kind that came from having seen too many patterns and assuming the current situation matched previous ones when it didnʼt. But those mistakes were rarer and usually less fatal than the mistakes of youth.

And Arturo was no weakling either, a fact some nobles seemed to forget because he spent so much time in administrative functions.

People looked at him and saw a bureaucrat, an administrator. The brother who managed logistics while Victor did the fighting.

But heʼd finished the 1,000 days of intensive cultivation too. Same process that had refined Victorʼs control had refined his. Same dedication to improvement.

Maybe he spent more time with documents than with beasts nowadays, but the capability remained. The foundation was solid.

His Gold-rank beasts werenʼt weak by any measure.

Fire Wolverine, Gold 1. It controlled flames but not the wild, overwhelming firepower of some fire-types but surgical application of heat exactly where and when needed. Could maintain 5 separate fire streams simultaneously, each independently controlled.

And Qilin, Gold 2. It combined speed with elemental power in ways that made it deadly at range and in close combat. Earth manipulation for defensive barriers and terrain control.

Selphira brought power similar to what Victor had available too.

Her Black Tortoise, Gold 3. It rivaled the strongest active Qilin in the kingdom, endurance that had proven almost impenetrable against most attacks.

Arturo had seen it take direct hits from Gold-rank beasts and simply... absorb them. The shell was thick enough that physical attacks glanced off. Spiritual defenses dense enough that elemental assaults dispersed without penetrating. Regeneration fast enough that minor damage healed within minutes.

Killing the Black Tortoise required sustained, overwhelming force applied continuously for extended duration. Most battles ended before you could accumulate that much damage.

And her White Serpent, Gold 2. It provided offense that complemented her defense perfectly.

Used together, the Tortoise and Serpent formed a combat system that was greater than the sum of its parts.

It was a combination that had worked for 4 centuries. That long history suggested it would continue working for at least one more operation.

Basically they were bringing double the power and also in leadership terms compared to what Victor had available, and 35 high-rank tamers instead of 20 provided additional depth that would make it significantly more difficult to surprise them with conventional ambush.

They wouldnʼt be as easy to trap as Victor had been. That was the theory they operated under while approaching the territory where the encounter would occur.

But the reality of the situation became visible when they finally arrived at the perimeter of Goldcrest territory the rebels controlled.

What they found was an army that was... large. Larger than expected. More forces than a small group would normally face comfortably.

Maybe 5000. Hard to judge precisely when they were spread across terrain in loose formations designed to appear even more numerous than actual count.

Arturo and the men hesitated.

This wasnʼt the garrison theyʼd anticipated. This was a significant military presence. The kind of force that should have been impossible to assemble without Yanoʼs information networks noticing the troop movements unless...

But rapid analysis by Selphira revealed a critical detail that changed the threat assessment considerably.

They werenʼt Gold-rank tamers for the most part.

The vast majority of the army deploying before them was composed of Silver-rank tamers, impressive numbers against ordinary opponents but not representing a serious threat against tamers of Selphira and Arturoʼs caliber when they came with appropriate backup.

It was a force designed to intimidate through numbers rather than individual quality, a strategy that worked against weaker targets but that had obvious limitations against opponents who knew how to exploit rank differences effectively.

The math was straightforward. A Gold 1 tamer could probably handle 3-7 Silver 3 tamers simultaneously. Maybe 10 or more if they were Silver 2 or lower. The power gap between major ranks wasnʼt linear, it was exponential.

And Selphira was Gold 3. Arturo was Gold 2… Doubles. Together they could probably handle 500-700 Silver-rank tamers unscathed if those tamers were poorly coordinated.

This army was large. But it wasnʼt overwhelming. Not against their group composition.

There were some Gold-rank tamers leading the formation, and even being Silver many of them could cause damage being mostly high Silver. That was true.

Arturo counted approximately 24 Golds distributed through the ranks, sufficient to provide tactical backbone that prevented the Silver army from dispersing under pressure.

24 Golds changed the calculation. That was enough to form coordinated assault teams. Enough to provide covering fire while Silver ranks maneuvered. Enough to create situations where Arturoʼs group would have to split attention between multiple simultaneous threats.

Still manageable… But no longer trivially easy.

Three of those Gold-rank tamers stepped forward to establish initial contact, separating from main formation and approaching with a posture communicating intention to negotiate rather than attacking immediately.

It was an expected development following standard protocol for this type of situation, preliminary step before more substantive events could begin.

Arturo watched them approach while preparing to manifest his beasts instantly if the situation deteriorated.