Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 254

The classroom was unusually quiet when Wei entered, carrying a folder with what everyone assumed were the partial results of the unit.

The students straightened in their seats.

The professor seemed different lately, less rigid, as if an enormous weight had been partially lifted from his shoulders.

He cleared his throat and observed the students, momentarily pausing on Ren, who occupied his now habitual place, his mushrooms pulsing calmly while he reviewed another text.

"Before continuing with today's lesson," Wei began, "I have an important announcement concerning this unit's evaluation."

The students felt a tense anticipation floating in the air.

"After thoroughly reviewing the works presented to date, and considering the exceptional contributions to the correction of course material," he continued, "I have made the decision to assign the first place of the unit to Ren Patinder in advance."

A murmur traveled through the classroom. It wasn't a complete surprise, considering the joint work Ren had been doing with Wei in recent weeks, but the formality of the announcement made it official. The whispers rose in volume, a mixture of awe, resentment, and grudging acceptance.

"This means," Wei continued, raising his voice slightly to overcome the murmurs, "that Patinder is not only exempt from this unit's final exam, a grade of 100 alone will not be a tie with him."

The reactions were varied. Some students, particularly those who had adopted Ren's corrections for their own cultivation methods, nodded in approval. Others seemed indifferent, focused on their own grade prospects. Several exchanged glances, recalculating their chances in the semester's remaining challenges.

But in two specific places in the classroom, the reactions were notably more intense.

Klein Goldcrest maintained a carefully controlled expression, but the tension in his jaw and the slight golden glow that occasionally appeared in his eyes betrayed his inner fury.

'Another insult,' he thought, his fingers imperceptibly tensing on the edge of his desk. 'First gathering, then crystals, now this. How can it be that this... this rotten intruder keeps triumphing over me?'

His mind frantically reviewed the calculations he had been making for weeks. With this first place secured for Ren, his own path to the semester honor was dangerously narrowing. He would need a perfect grade in Mei's unit, plus decisive victories in combat.

'It doesn't matter,' he assured himself. 'Combat exams are where a tamer is truly measured. And there he won't stand a chance against my Bronze 1 lion.'

The rage inside him gradually transformed into a cold, calculating determination. He would prove to everyone… the professors, the other students, his family, especially Kassian, that he was a Goldcrest and as such could not be surpassed by someone so insignificant. It was a matter of natural order.

Of hierarchy.

'Enjoy your moment, Patinder,' he thought, as a tense smile formed on his lips. 'Because it will be brief.'

In another sector of the classroom, Luna observed Ren with a much more difficult expression to interpret. Her shadow wolf created subtly changing patterns in the shadow beneath her desk, rippling like dark water.

'First place. Again.' Her admiration for Ren struggled against her own competitive spirit, creating a conflict she physically felt as pressure in her chest.

Unlike Klein, Luna didn't resent Ren's success. She found it fascinating, inspiring even. The way the boy defied all expectations, how he ignored the initial taunts and obstacles to follow his own path... it was exactly what she herself aspired to do, though for different reasons.

'But I need to be first,' she reflected as she gently pressed the letter in her pocket, her determination reaffirming.

'I can beat him in Mei's, Lin's and Yang's exams,' she calculated, mentally organizing her strategy. 'The battles... there I have my chance.'

Her shadow wolf stirred, responding to the intensification of her determination. Luna had been diligently practicing, refining techniques that most of her classmates wouldn't even suspect she possessed.

As Wei continued with his class, Klein and Luna's gazes occasionally converged on Ren, both loaded with intentions, though of fundamentally different natures.

Klein saw a usurper, someone who threatened the natural order of things, who stole recognition that by birthright and status belonged to him.

Luna saw an equal, perhaps even someone she admired, but also an obstacle she must overcome to achieve her own goals. Her view of Ren carried respect, but also resolution.