Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 373 - Taming Origins - 2

ʼHumans created this?ʼ Ren asked, incredulous.

The concept seemed to challenge everything he understood about the natural order of their world.

«Iʼm not 100% certain but that seems to be the case», continued the little voice. «Both I and this organism are part of the same strategy. We were created to connect to the worldʼs mana flow after the sky dragons attacked the invaders and brought the beginning of the final judgment... Or something like that.»

”It says this organism was artificially created,” Ren translated for Lin. ”That both it and this... thing... are part of an ancient system designed by humans to connect them to something related to mana and the world... after a Final Judgment?”

His own words sounded fantastic to his ears, yet the evidence floated before them.

Lin blinked, clearly struggling to process the information. ”Ask it... What was this final judgment and what exactly was the purpose of creating them?”

Ren transmitted the question mentally, feeling the strange sensation of directing thoughts toward the presence nestled in his consciousness.

«I donʼt know for certain», admitted the mushroom, and for the first time Ren detected something resembling frustration in its tone. «My current size is insufficient to access all the original information. I only see fragments, and part is mere supposition. But seeing this core pulsing, I can infer and feel its purpose.»

”It says it doesnʼt know everything,” Ren explained to Lin, disappointment creeping into his voice. ”That it needs to grow more to access its complete knowledge.”

«We need that liquid inside the sphere», continued the mushroom with unusual urgency. «Itʼs exactly what I was looking for. This superorganism produces and defends it by design, but doesnʼt use it. Itʼs like... a valuable byproduct meant to be consumed by whoever awakens it… So us.»

”The liquid inside the sphere is what we need for its roots to extend underground more easily, improve the connection with beasts, and overcome certain barriers,” Ren translated the next part to Lin too. ”But...” his enthusiasm dimmed slightly, ”it says we canʼt simply take it. The organism would attack us so there is a small risk.”

«Sit beside the core», ordered the mushroom, its mental voice taking on the tone of a patient instructor. «Iʼll guide you through the process to synchronize your mana with the superorganismʼs flow. If you do it correctly, it will accept your presence and youʼll be able to touch the core without provoking a defensive response.»

Ren transmitted the instructions to Lin, who nodded with a serious expression. ”Be careful,” she warned. ”Iʼll be ready to intervene and get us out of here if something goes wrong.”

With caution, Ren approached the suspended core. The sphere seemed to pulse more intensely as he drew near, as if aware of his presence.

Following the mushroomʼs precise instructions, he sat in a meditation position, his palms facing upward on his knees. He closed his eyes and began adjusting his breathing to match the pulsating rhythm of the chamber.

The synchronization felt natural yet profound, as if he were remembering rather than learning something entirely new. His heartbeat gradually aligned with the omnipresent pulse, creating a harmony that resonated through his bones.

«Now, visualize your mana as a pulse», instructed the mushroom. «Donʼt try to control its rhythm. Simply let it join the greater source that surrounds us.»

The guidance came with a gentleness that surprised Ren, his mushroom felt typically more impatient and demanding when asking for cultivation materials and rings.

Ren obeyed, feeling how his internal energy began to resonate with the omnipresent pulse. It was as if his entire body gradually synchronized with a primordial heartbeat, something as ancient as life itself.

The sensation was both humbling and exhilarating, connecting him to forces far greater than his individual consciousness.

«Good», approved the mushroom. «Now extend your hand toward the core. Slowly.»

With his eyes still closed, Ren raised his right hand toward the suspended sphere. He could sense it, not with his physical senses, but with something deeper, as if he formed part of a greater tapestry he was only beginning to understand.

His fingers brushed the coreʼs surface, which felt surprisingly soft and warm, like living skin.

«Now», whispered the mushroom in his mind, «Take it. With respect.»

”Permit me to take a part of you,” Ren murmured, the words arising instinctively from some deep understanding. ”To complete what was begun.”

Ren pulled, and the entire organism trembled for a moment. ʼPerhaps he had been too abrupt?ʼ The thought barely formed before the consequences manifested.

Without warning, the entire chamber shuddered. An aggressive pulse radiated from the walls, and the fungal structures bristled like hair standing up in defense. The golden filaments connecting to the core tightened visibly, the chamberʼs bioluminescence shifting from warm gold to an alarming amber-red.

Lin instinctively stepped forward to grab Ren as she assessed potential threats and escape routes. But Ren was already reacting, his connection to the organism allowing him to sense the disturbanceʼs source.

In a fraction of a second, he deepened his breathing, intensified his synchronization with the omnipresent pulse. His mana flowed following the superorganismʼs rhythm, reassuring it that he belonged there.

♢♢♢♢

Higher up, in the Excavatorʼs empty tunnels, the golden spores adhering to the beasts and trackers reacted to the aggressive pulse that had traversed the entire fungal network.

The mana organisms suddenly activated, responding to what they interpreted as a threat to their greater collective.

The first beast convulsed violently, its howl resonating through the tunnel with primitive terror. The small patches of fungi on its fur expanded instantly, growing until forming visible structures that sprouted from its skin like small golden heads.

”Whatʼs wrong with your beast?” shouted the lead tracker, watching his companion writhe in agony. The magical animalʼs powerful form contorted unnaturally, its muscles spasming as foreign organisms claimed territory within its body.

The answer came when he felt the first sting of burning pain in his forearm. He looked down to find small mushrooms sprouting, breaking through his skin as if it were fertile soil.

”Itʼs the same mushrooms from outside!” roared the leader, seeing the identical structures emerging on one of his menʼs neck. ”Thatʼs why there are no Excavators... The tunnel must be full of damned spores!”

Understanding dawned too late.

The tracking beast collapsed, its breathing becoming agonized gasping as its body visibly deteriorated. Its manifestation flickered and faded as the mushrooms drained its vital mana.

In seconds, the beast had completely disappeared, leaving only the echo of its final whimper.

”Out of the tunnel!” howled the leader, but his men were already in panic, tearing the mushrooms from their skin with heart-rending screams. Each removed fungus left a bleeding wound, but allowing them to grow meant slow death by absorption of vital energy and mana.

But the choice between immediate pain and inevitable death was no choice at all.

Blood painted the tunnel walls as desperate hands clawed at their own flesh, trying to remove the parasitic invaders before they could establish deeper roots. Some mushrooms had grown tendrils that extended beneath the skin, requiring increasingly violent removal.

The trackers crawled toward the surface, their beasts disappearing one by one as the energy drain intensified.

The man closest to the entrance managed to emerge first, his body covered with self-inflicted wounds where he had torn away the golden parasites.

♢♢♢♢

Above, the flyer who had remained in charge observed the clearing with growing curiosity.

The surroundings had been motionless for the past hour, and the total absence of activity had led him to gradually descend, approaching the strange clearingʼs edge.

One of the larger golden mushrooms in a treeʼs canopy pulsed with particularly hypnotic brightness. The flyer extended his hand, fascinated by the rhythmic pattern of bioluminescence, drawn by an attraction he couldnʼt quite explain.

A heart-rending scream stopped him centimeters from touching the deadly fungus when he turned to see what was happening.

From the tunnel entrance emerged a bloodied figure, crawling on elbows and knees. The first tracker had managed to exit, his body marked by dozens of wounds where he had torn away the parasitic mushrooms.

”The mushrooms!” he managed to whisper when the flyer descended and ran toward him. ”Donʼt... touch... the mushrooms...” Each word was forced through gritted teeth.

The flyer lifted the wounded man, quickly moving him away while observing with new horror the golden structures he had been about to touch.

”What happened down there? Where are the others?”

But the wounded tracker had lost consciousness, his labored breathing the only indication he still lived. His wounds continued bleeding, and some seemed to show small golden filaments at the edges, as if the mushrooms hadnʼt been completely eradicated.

With desperate urgency, the flyer headed toward the nearest meeting point. The wounded man needed immediate medical attention.