Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 910 - Taming the Fifth Year - Attrition - Final Battle - 9

CONTROL FROM THE SHADOWS

A bit more than a hundred meters above the tunnel where Julius and Zhaoʼs group fought, in a cavern that had been excavated long ago specifically to monitor movement in the ruins directly below, the twin brothers of Orion worked with concentration making sweat flow down their faces.

Magnus and Dorian were controlling four ”hearts” simultaneously. Crystals floating in a formation requiring constant attention to maintain stability.

Two purple cores pulsed with energy that was familiar but difficult to manipulate, though not as difficult as the rhythm of the other two they had to synchronize perfectly or risk destabilization.

One blue core glowed with intensity that hurt the eyes if they looked directly at it for too long. Brilliant light that seemed to contain a compressed sky or ocean. Power that wanted to expand but was forcibly constrained within the crystalline structure.

And one red core beat like a living heart. Heat emanating in waves making the air around it shimmer visibly. Temperature fluctuating with each pulse creating convection currents that disturbed the other crystalsʼ positions.

And both were complaining as always.

”This is ridiculously difficult,” Magnus grumbled while modifying his mana flow toward the blue core threatening to desynchronize. ”I donʼt understand how Orion manages controlling light and darkness together with five others of these… Should be harder than this. These damned crystals practically fight each other for dominance every second!”

The blue and red cores particularly wanted to conflict. Water and fire principles embedded in their structure producing natural opposition. Keeping them balanced required constant microadjustments. Let attention slip for a moment and one would surge while the other weakened. Then cascade failure as the system tried violently rebalancing.

Dorian grunted agreement while struggling with balance between the red core and one of the purples. ”We can only keep fire and water chaos under control because weʼre twins and have the luck of handling those elements,” he responded with audible frustration. ”I think the almost perfect balance we share is the only reason we havenʼt exploded these crystalsʼ energy in our faces yet.”

It was a ʼtruthʼ they recognized with pride and resentment.

Being twins gave them a strange synchronization they thought individual tamers could never replicate. Capability to sense each otherʼs intention and adjust instantly without needing verbal communication.

Magnus would begin shifting the blue coreʼs power and Dorian would feel it before seeing it. Would compensate with red core adjustment that maintained the overall balance. And the reverse worked equally well. Intuitive coordination that came from sharing womb and growing together through decades of life.

It was an advantage making them exceptional in tasks requiring perfect coordination according to them. At least thatʼs what they told themselves when Orion assigned ʼimpossibleʼ jobs like this one.

If theyʼd known about a student named Min whoʼd achieved better fire-water balance than them in a single beast, theyʼd have felt genuinely embarrassed.

Because what they accomplished with two people working in perfect lifelong synchronization, heʼd achieved through reckless innovation completely defying convention.

One core system. One tamer coordinating it all. And functioning stability that exceeded what twins with specialized training were managing with their four-core array.

But fortunately for their pride, they had no knowledge of Minʼs neo-achievement and could maintain the illusion that what they did was unique in difficulty for another while.

”The orders are too hard to understand also,” Magnus added while consulting instructions Orion had left. Cryptic symbols requiring careful interpretation. ”We only have four bases to handle, so technically only six possible simple combinations between them. But six order options and directions gives too many possibilities to control appropriately between two people!”

It was something overwhelming when they tried processing directions completely.

Four hearts could combine in six different pairs. Each pair fundamental interaction demanding specific handling.

And each pair could interact in multiple ways depending on relative intensity and activation timing. Pulse fire then water versus pulse them simultaneously versus alternate rapidly, all produced different orders on the controlled beasts below.

Multiplying permutations created a possibility space that was too large for two people like them coordinating without frequent errors.

Theyʼd made mistakes already. Nothing catastrophic but close calls that had them sweating more from fear than exertion. Twice the blue core had nearly broken free of formation. Once the red had flared so hot that Magnusʼs hands had blistered despite protective scales.

Learning through trial and error when errors could mean an explosion of mana wasnʼt an ideal training method.

But at least directing flow to runes wasnʼt so difficult considering that once near them the mutant beasts tended to follow the energy from the final chamber.

The runes acted like beacons. Drew corrupted creatures toward them almost magnetically. Magnus and Dorian didnʼt need perfect control, just good enough to aim general flow in the right direction and let the runes do heavy lifting.

Small mercy in an otherwise overwhelming task.

”At least weʼre not handling what Orion controls,” Dorian observed with a tone mixing relief and reluctant respect. ”Heʼs controlling seven cores right now. That gives... I donʼt even want to calculate how many possible combinations.”

Magnus did quick mental math and felt vertigo at the result.

”More than twenty options just in basic pairs. And if we consider combinations of three or four simultaneously...” He left the sentence unfinished. Implication too overwhelming to articulate completely.

Seven cores meant twenty-one possible pairs. More possible triplets. And that was just the base combinations without considering timing variations or intensity modulations.

The number of potential configurations was way bigger than theirs.

And Orion was supposedly managing that. In real-time. While also coordinating larger strategic operations. Without visibly straining.

It was a renewal of respect for their older brotherʼs absolutely insane tenacity.

Orion wasnʼt just handling more cores but was executing control requiring mental processing that would have driven Magnus and Dorian mad if theyʼd attempted replicating.

It was a demonstration of capability transcending simple skill and entering the territory of obsession bordering on inhuman.

Sometimes Magnus wondered if his brother had sacrificed something to achieve that level of focus. Normal people couldnʼt maintain that intensity. Normal people had limits that Orion seemed to simply ignore through sheer force of will.