Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 881 – Taming the Fifth Year – Attrition – Sacrifice – Food

The earth beast attempted using the same tactic that had worked against Ron. Moving underground rapidly to assault from unexpected angles.

Attack patterns that came from below, from sides, from behind simultaneously.

Against Ron’s salamander it had been overwhelming. Fire techniques couldn’t penetrate deep enough. His beast mobility couldn’t match the beast underground repositioning speed. Earth element victory had been inevitable.

But the mantis had a considerable elemental advantage Ron hadn’t possessed.

Even against an earth specialist, since it wasn’t the beast of a double tamer… Let alone a triple.

It didn’t even need to use much of its capability to track the subterranean actions through vibrations. Didn’t need its access to powerful attacks that could penetrate the earth.

It simply canceled the beast’s earth control with its own. Forced the enemy beast to ascend to the surface.

The mechanism was straightforward. Earth control wasn’t about raw strength, though that always mattered, but about imposing will on the material. When two wills contested for the same earth, the stronger one dominated.

Mantis’s earth control: maybe around 50% higher than the enemy.

Gap was sufficient. Mantis’s will overwrote the bear’s commands. The earth that had been responding to manipulation suddenly stopped listening. That 50% would be the amount of control the earth would display if still contested, but it was more than enough.

The earth beast found itself unable to maintain underground position as its ex-allied material actively pushed it toward the surface.

When the earth beast emerged confused, the mantis was already attacking with scythes that would cut through its defense like butter.

The confusion was visible. The beast had been underground, underground was supposed to be safe… Underground was where it controlled the terrain.

Then suddenly the underground was hostile. Was betraying it.

Disorientation lasted maybe 1-2 seconds. Long enough for the mantis to close the distance and begin dismantling.

The beast was combat-ineffective before it fully processed what happened.

Earth control Mantis exercised wasn’t as refined as what the Wolverine or even the Hydra could achieve. But it was huge for any common Silver-rank beast.

Once on open ground, the earth beast had no capability to match the Mantis’s speed and assault power.

The beast couldn’t retreat, couldn’t dodge and couldn’t create any meaningful defense without its control. It collapsed with body and bonds severed after maybe 5-10 seconds total combat.

Not even enough time for the tamer to react to the insanity that had happened.

Master Yang’s announcement: “2 – 1 Victory: Team Ren!”

Clean and efficient. Exactly what Ren needed.

♢♢♢♢

Ren was lucky, more “common teammates” to exploit the mantis, Min and Luna were not coming yet.

The next opponent who emerged was a boy with a water beast that would have surely defeated Ron if by miracle he’d overcome the second opponent.

It seemed Min and Luna had decided to dedicate considerable sacrifices just to know which beast Ren would deploy first.

Ren wasn’t in a bad location now… Had already deployed the mantis, so using it against Silver-rank beasts was perfect.

The mantis had water affinity too. Maybe 40-50% bigger effectiveness compared to this beast too.

But this time it didn’t make sense to even waste the mana needed for overriding the full control.

When the water beast launched liquid projectiles, the mantis evaded them with speed making attacks seem like they moved in slow motion.

Not even close calls, just clean avoidance… Projectiles passing through the space the mantis had occupied 0.1 seconds ago.

And when the water beast attempted creating barriers to block its approach, the mantis used its own control to evaporate only some small protection sections before they could impede it.

The mechanism was interesting. Small gaps were sufficient, the mantis didn’t need to destroy the entire defense. Just needed openings large enough to pass through.

Which it created. And exploited. And closed the distance to striking range…

Even though the water beast could heal itself the battle was going to end faster than some expected. But the result was never genuinely in doubt.

It could have used wood element, but it wasn’t hurt so absorbing energy was a waste. Also using imbued energy in the blades was a waste… When the pure physical cut was enough to finish the fight quite soon.

The mantis simply exceeded the opponent in too many areas for combat for it to be a competitive one.

So it positioned for the finishing strike. The water beast attempted a defensive posture but it was too slow, too weak, too outmatched.

But then Ren noticed the beast didn’t defend further.

In fact it hadn’t attacked again after failing the first attempt so miserably.

Had it surrendered?

Well… Anyway, the most it honestly could have done was using extreme defensive tactics intended to prolong the battle a bit more rather than win. Try making Ren spend some more mana.

But it didn’t even do that.

The water beast’s tamer made the decision Ren had started suspecting but that still surprised him in timing.

He withdrew his beast from battle deliberately… Retreating it before damage became critical and before it was completely destroyed.

Not that Ren demanded it not to be done. But at least he could have fought until the end to make him spend even slightly more strength, right?

Maybe that was too much asking from a tamer for whom Ren didn’t know how important his team victory was.

But then something occurred making Ren open his eyes wide with sudden recognition of what they’d been planning this entire time.

Ren realized Min was the fourth scheduled opponent according to battle pattern when he saw him approaching the arena zone.

But before Min decided to walk toward the arena, the boy who’d withdrawn his beast before it died, and who was already reaching outside battlefield limits, invoked it again next to Min.

Not to continue fighting. Was already disqualified as a defeat. 3 – 1.

But specifically so Min’s Amphibian, which was summoned at that exact moment just outside the arena zone, could eat it and increase its power a bit more right before entering the real confrontation.

Ren realized.