Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons - Chapter 216

Chapter 216: Chapter 216 – Taming the Finals (Unit 1) – 7
The first day of gathering culminated in a procession that resembled more a victory parade than the return of simple students.

Ren’s group, loaded to impossible limits with perfectly preserved shadow stalker skins, emerged from the wooded area as the sun began to set. The golden light caught on their burdens, casting elongated shadows across the ground and making their silhouettes seem almost heroic against the darkening sky.

This second time they had organized the transport better.

Unfortunately, Shizu’s Wolverine hadn’t yet reached Silver rank, so she couldn’t use the space within it to store even more skins.

But Matilda’s turtle had created several wooden rods they used to build a platform that transported the additional piles of skins that wouldn’t fit in their backpacks.

The contraption swayed gently as they walked, the weight distributed among several bearers.

The image was as absurd as it was impressive: first-year students returning with enough loot to embarrass experienced gatherers. Their faces, though tired, beamed with unmistakable pride.

“How many do you think there are in total?” asked Han while adjusting the heavy load they all supported from various sides.

“We’ve completely emptied three molting chambers and almost half the fourth today,” responded Ren, who was the only one breathing calmly as if he weren’t carrying several extra kilos. “Approximately 250 skins per person. Considering that we’re 21…”

“More than 5,000 skins,” calculated Liora. “Each of us with an approximate value greater than 70,000 crystals.”

In the main camp, activity gradually stopped as students noticed the group’s arrival. Expressions ranged from disbelief to open envy. The afternoon’s chatter faded into stunned silence as they approached.

A student from another group dropped the small sack of herbs and thread he had spent all day gathering. Compared to what Ren’s group brought, his loot seemed like the leftovers from the leftovers from a banquet.

“It’s impossible,” murmured an assistant loudly enough to be heard. “Not even fifth-year students get this much in the full three days.”

Even Zhao, who supervised the registration station, couldn’t prevent his eyes from widening upon seeing the quantities they began to declare. The normally composed professor blinked rapidly, as if not trusting what his eyes were showing him.

He knew Ren was special, but this…

His professional expression briefly faltered, revealing the passionate explorer hiding beneath the instructor façade.

“One and a half million crystals in value…” he murmured while reviewing the records. “In one day.”

“The cave was especially well-stocked,” commented Ren casually while completing his form. “They had their molting cycle recently, luckily.”

“Especially well-stocked,” repeated Zhao, a resigned smile forming on his lips. “I suppose that’s one way to describe it.”

A few meters away, Klein’s group observed the scene with somber expressions. Despite having taken down several bark stalkers with their group of 9 and the help of Astor’s Bronze-rank beast, they had barely managed to obtain materials worth more than five thousand crystals each.

“It doesn’t make sense,” muttered Klein, his lion manifesting due to frustration, golden patterns rippling across his skin. “We have noble, powerful, and expensive beasts. We should be getting more than a group of mediocre students.”

“Your beast is indeed the strongest if we don’t take into account Luna’s cheating strategies, leader… But I think the fungus kid is cheating, someone must be telling him where things are for sure,” responded Hector, his hands nervously twisting his clothes.

“It could be Lin or Zhao helping him out of pity, and despite us having the best beasts… Strong beasts aren’t much use if you don’t know where to look for the materials,” added Astor.

“Sounds possible, how would he know about rare evolutions or obtain so many points in the exam otherwise? And it seems the fungus kid always knows exactly where the valuable stuff is,” concluded Feng.

“Maybe it’s just insane luck,” insisted Jin from where he sat, grumpily rolling up a long line of thread. “There’s no way those professors would give someone with no future so much just out of pity.”

Cass let out a dry laugh. “All that he’s obtained? Nobody has that much luck… I’d be more inclined to believe he really knows everything like he hinted on the first day of school.”

“Nobody can be born knowing everything… So they’re hiding something from us,” concluded Klein, his eyes fixed on Ren as he methodically organized his loot. “Who is that damn fungus kid really?”

Meanwhile, Mira and her group couldn’t contain their enthusiasm while sharing the amazing details of their expedition with other students who had approached, drawn by the impressive quantity of materials. They gestured animatedly, recreating scenes from their adventure.

“Are you telling me the mushroom boy eliminated the sentinel with that strange spear and you didn’t wake any females inside the cave while you took all those skins?” asked a student from another group, clearly skeptical.

“We almost woke them,” Han smiled, exchanging a knowing look with Min and Mayo. “There were some tense moments.”

“Ren knew exactly which routes to take in that labyrinth of caves,” added Liora. “It was as if he had a map in his head.”

Gradually, the story of their expedition spread throughout the camp, growing and becoming embellished with each retelling. By the time they finished registering all the materials, the feat had become almost legendary among the more than 50 first-year students.

Most impressive, however, was that in the end, no one questioned the reality of the facts. They didn’t need to. The facts spoke for themselves, and the mountain of valuable materials was silent but eloquent testimony to their success.

The tent, considerably larger and more robust than in previous expeditions, served as an operations center for the instructors and general dormitory.

When they finally retreated to the enormous tent for dinner, gazes followed them, some of admiration, others of envy, but in all had grown an undeniable respect for the mushroom boy. The atmosphere inside was a bit awkward for the group with the whispers and sidelong glances.

“It’s almost uncomfortable,” commented Taro while being served a generous portion of stew, the rich aroma rising in steamy tendrils. “The way everyone looks at us.”

“You’ll get used to it,” responded Larissa cheerfully. “It comes with the territory when you do something noteworthy.”

“It’s going to get worse then,” intervened Ren, “Tomorrow I want to eliminate some large bark stalkers and then we can focus on the last cave.”

“Aren’t we going to finish looting the first cave?” asked Liora, delicately wiping her mouth with a napkin.

Ren shook his head, his mushrooms pulsing softly. “We’re going to leave the last chamber for the other students if they can find it. It’s already half empty anyway… There’s a whole complete cave waiting on the other side, and I think the sentinel will be of higher quality.”

The group continued discussing plans for the following day, oblivious to how their success had subtly changed the dynamics of the entire camp. They were no longer simple first-year students; they had become a phenomenon that would be recounted for posterity in the expeditions of future generations.

♢♢♢♢

The professors gathered in the command tent.

In the small section of the tent designated as an office, Zhao collapsed heavily into a chair, the wooden frame creaking under his weight.

“Seventy thousand crystals,” he repeated for the umpteenth time, shaking his head. “Seventy thousand in one day. When I was their age, it took me an entire semester to gather fifty thousand.”

Lin, seated across from him with a steaming cup of tea, smiled slightly. “It was impressive. The way he eliminated the sentinel, watching him locate the molting chambers as if strolling through his home without a second’s doubt that he was on the right path, how they extracted several specimens without waking the other females…”

“And I missed it all,” lamented Zhao, the explorer in him momentarily overcoming the disciplined professor and soldier. “While you enjoyed a fun and interesting expedition, I was stuck supervising everyone from above.”