Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 946 - Taming Connection - 2

The clawʼs arm continued rising from the ground. Movement being relatively slow but inexorable as a complex structure emerged from the earth like having been concealing its total extension.

But instead of a body or head, more arms began appearing. Emergence revealing the first appendage wasnʼt unique but part of a strangely similar group.

Six arms total manifested eventually… Three right handed, three left. Each terminating in a claw resembling to one containing Ren and even two legs were added at the processʼs end, the appendages being thicker than arms but following a similar design.

It was a construction reminiscent of a strange spider in general configuration. Though proportions and specific details diverged sufficiently that the comparison wasnʼt at all perfect.

First, there was no thorax or opisthosoma/abdomen.

No normal anatomical structures.

The structure joining them was actually amorphous.

The union maintaining the 8 artifacts stuck to each other being provided by mutant bodies beginning to adhere when making contact.

They became a pulsing mass upon touching the artifacts. Tissue being transformed into a substance seeming more fluid than solid. An amalgamation filling spaces between the rigid components and providing cohesion converting a collection of parts into a unified organism.

It was wrong... Bodies werenʼt meant bending that way, werenʼt meant flowing or merging into a single mass that pulsed with combined heartbeats.

But they did it anyway.

The eight artifacts in the mutantsʼ power were finally together.

The result was this horror surpassing a simple local threat and entering the territory of a nightmare that could destroy the entire city.

♢♢♢♢

Inside Renʼs mind, the experience was now completely different from what external observers witnessed.

He wasnʼt seeing the arena nor feeling physical pressure from the claw containing him. Instead he found himself in a space simultaneously familiar and alien. A place he recognized as internal but having been altered in ways he didnʼt completely understand.

It wasnʼt the first time…

Not even much time had passed since last time darkness had trapped him here. Theyʼd just saved him and already he was looking at this enormous dark space again.

What had once been an enormous library was now empty and lightless.

No books, no shelves and no knowledge preserved in physical form. Just void… emptiness. Just architecture without purpose serving as a monument to what had been lost.

The library existed as a memory. As a hollow shell reminding him that something important had been here once. But this time something was different from last time.

This time upon opening his eyes he saw a small girl nearby in a dimly lit corner.

White hair... Appearing approximately eleven years old. A small figure sitting still with her back turned while remaining curled into a ball. Arms wrapped around herself in a position communicating vulnerability.

It was somewhat familiar, and an image provoking protective instinct. Impulse to approach and provide comfort alleviating the obvious suffering.

She was crying, he could hear it... Quiet sobs, the kind of desperate sadness that came from being alone, from being trapped in darkness with no hope of escape.

And part of him wanted to help her. But then the girl vanished abruptly.

Vanishing being instantaneous without transition or explaining how movement had occurred. Just there then not there like sheʼd been deleted from reality.

And then someone called Ren from behind with a voice that couldnʼt be from such a small girl. Strange voices in quality that couldnʼt belong to a child not simply because of discordant age but something deeper.

Not a human voice. Or not entirely human. Something else underneath.

Ren turned to see who had spoken.

Curiosity being mixed with confusion about what exactly he was experiencing and whether this was real or some hallucination or strange senseless dream.

What he observed was a girl appearing almost his same age. Perhaps a year younger according to an approximate evaluation he made comparing her with the girls heʼd interacted with all last year. Observing features and body proportions he could calculate something close to reality.

Not the child heʼd seen moments before but a bit more mature version. Transformation having occurred in an instant, in a manner defying ordinary logic.

She looked at him with a genuine curious expression. Evaluation being directed not in manner suggesting threat but like studying something she found intriguing in ways she hadnʼt completely anticipated.

Beautiful. He had to acknowledge that... Objectively beautiful in a way that made looking away difficult. White hair flowing, features perfect, big eyes that caught light despite the darkness surrounding them.

But also wrong. Something about her was wrong… An uncanny valley, like almost human but not quite, like a statue animated, like a painting given life. Like a thing wearing human shape but not truly understanding what humanity really meant.

”Youʼve grown well,” she commented with a tone carrying approval and surprise.

”At least in that simple visible form you present to the external world.”

She paused before adding with a critical note contrasting with the previous praise.

”But your network not so much... Are they idiots? Why would they stop the growth of…”

She interrupted herself abruptly. The final word remained incomplete when her attention was captured by something she noticed, something she was observing more carefully now.

She looked toward Renʼs chest with disconcerting focus intensity. And Ren felt strangely vulnerable under such scrutiny.

ʼIs there something strange about me?ʼ

Looking down to see what had so completely captured the girlʼs attention, he realized something making his discomfort increase considerably.

He was completely naked.

Hadnʼt noticed clothing absence until the girlʼs observation made him conscious of his present state. Revelation being belated in a manner that was more comic being followed by Ren awkwardly covering himself.

Perhaps he wouldʼve recognized the girl sooner if not for the genuine embarrassment he felt. Hard blaming him when the situation was particularly awkward considering it was quite a pretty girl seeing him in such a vulnerable condition.

Though suddenly he realized something fundamentally changing the discomfortʼs nature.

The girl wasnʼt looking at his body in a manner suggesting romantic or sexual interest. She only saw his chest specifically. Focus being directed toward an area apparently containing something interesting transcending simple physical anatomy.

Ren looked down again, the inspection being more careful this time to find exactly what the girl was observing with such attention.

And he discovered with shock he could no longer see his skin in an ordinary manner.

His chest seemed to have become transparent. Solidity being replaced to reveal internal structures normally remaining hidden behind his flesh and bone.

He could see his tamer core with clarity impossible under normal circumstances.

Actually the entire system…

Mana center being visible in manner permitting direct observation of a configuration that no one or perhaps few in ancient history ever understood so explicitly.