Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 239

Light filtered gradually through Ren’s eyelids, a soft whitish invasion that slowly pulled him from the deep abyss of dreamless sleep.

Ren opened his eyes, blinking several times to adjust his vision to the prevailing brightness. A white canvas stretched above him: the inner fabric of a tent ceiling, illuminated by the morning light that managed to penetrate the partially open fabric door.

The mushrooms in his hair pulsed softly, as if greeting the new day. He felt curiously renewed, as if he had slept for weeks instead of hours. His body, which he remembered on the verge of collapse after the battle with the abomination, now seemed brimming with energy, each muscle relaxed, every nerve at peace.

The residual pain he had expected was conspicuously absent.

Slowly, he turned his head to inspect his surroundings. He found himself in a separate compartment, smaller than the main camp tent. The air held the faint scent of medicinal herbs and clean linen.

The only person present was Lin, seated on a small stool next to his cot. Her expression, normally playful, now showed an unusual seriousness, though her eyes visibly brightened when she noticed he had awakened.

She leaned forward slightly, relief evident in the softening of her shoulders.

On another cot nearby, just a few meters away, lay Han. His companion remained motionless, eyes closed, breathing regular. A bandage wrapped around his broken leg, and smaller dressings covered various minor wounds on his arms and face.

"How long...?" Ren began, his voice slightly hoarse from disuse.

"Just one full night, your recovery is monstrous, much faster than I remember," Lin responded, handing him a glass of water. "It’s the morning of the third expedition day."

Ren drank gratefully, the fresh water dispelling the last vestiges of dryness in his throat.

While he drank, Lin took a small silver bell that rested on a small table and rang it briefly. Outside the tent, hurried footsteps moved away, probably some assistant sending a message.

"How do you feel?" Lin asked, studying him attentively, her eyes scanning for any signs of lingering illness or pain.

"Surprisingly well," Ren noticed two empty vials on a nearby tray, recognizing them as containers of good quality anti-mana medicine. "I suppose that explains why I don’t feel like I’ve been trampled by a herd of bull elephants."

Lin nodded, a small smile briefly appearing on her lips. "Mana poisoning. Quite severe, I might add. If Zhao hadn’t found you when he did..." Her voice took on a somber quality, the unspoken implications hanging heavy in the air.

She left the sentence incomplete, but the message was clear.

"Ren," she continued, her tone changing to something more cautious, more measured. She leaned closer, lowering her voice slightly. "I need you to tell me exactly what happened down there."

Ren contemplated the question for a moment, organizing his thoughts. The memories came in flashes, the fall, the chamber, the monstrous creature that defied all natural laws. Each image was vivid despite his exhaustion at the time.

From his position on the other cot, Han listened attentively. Although he appeared asleep, something in the tension of his shoulders, in the too-regular pattern of his breathing, started to suggest he was awake.

"It was an abyssal," Ren began. "But not a common one. Somehow it had... absorbed characteristics from all the surrounding deep beasts."

Lin leaned forward, her interest clearly intensified. "What do you mean by ’absorbed’?"

"Exactly that," Ren gestured with his hands, trying to give shape to what he had witnessed. His fingers traced patterns in the air, mimicking the creature’s impossible anatomy. "It had characteristics from different creatures. Living tunnel plates, mimic insect legs, stone lurker features... it had even assimilated part of the shadow stalker queen from the colony."

Lin visibly paled. "The queen? That would explain the unusually aggressive behavior of the colony." Her fingers tightened around the edge of her stool, knuckles whitening.

"Fortunately, it hadn’t encountered a weaver queen," Ren continued, a shiver running down his spine at the mere thought. The image of such a creature wielding thread manipulation abilities made his blood run cold. "If it had acquired their abilities to manipulate thread... we wouldn’t have survived to tell the tale."

Lin was clearly trying to process this information, her brow furrowed in concentration as she mentally connected dots.

"Wait," she interrupted, raising a hand. "How is it possible for a creature to absorb special abilities from such disparate species? I’ve never seen any abyssal with more than one ability in the hordes..."

"I’m not sure, but I think it was the corrupted core of a shadow stalker," explained Ren, his mushrooms pulsing more rapidly as he remembered. "The abyssal energy that permeated it... it was as if it had corrupted its natural absorption capacity, taking it to impossible extremes. It could create illusions like an advanced mimic, absorb vitality like a shadow stalker..."

Lin paused, as if considering whether to add something more. "Julius returned to the chamber after ensuring all students were safe. He recovered your backpacks and belongings." _{frёeωebɳovel.com}