Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 295

"I hope she eliminates another one of Klein's followers," commented Min, following Larissa with his gaze as she entered the arena. "Do you think it will be similar to the previous match?"

Ren studied Astor, who was advancing from the opposite side. The boy was considerably larger than Feng. His blue rhinoceros, also at Bronze 1 rank, was known for its extraordinary defense and had obtained its new devastating spinning horn attack.

"It will be different," Ren responded after a moment. "Astor is much more resistant than Feng and doesn't have an elemental or natural disadvantage. His defense could prove problematic for Larissa's relatively low attack compared to Liora's."

The combat began with the same instruction as always, but the development was notably different, as Ren predicted.

Astor, instead of waiting, attacked immediately by invoking his rhinoceros completely, the creature manifested with a roar that reverberated throughout the stadium. It was an imposing beast, almost as large as Taro's Living Tunnel, with skin that seemed made of hardened sapphire plates.

Larissa, studying her opponent, kept her mineral fairy partially fused. Small golden crystals adorned her skin, shining with inner light each time she moved.

The first move was Astor's. He sent his rhinoceros in a direct charge, the beast lowering its enormous head to aim its horn at Larissa. As it advanced, the horn began to spin, becoming a living drill.

To no one's surprise, Larissa executed a spatial jump, disappearing just before impact. What did surprise many was how close she allowed the rhinoceros to get before jumping. So close that some swore they saw the horn graze her.

Larissa appeared in front of Astor, but the boy had already anticipated the situation, so he had returned his beast to his body to use its armor. Larissa's attack barely left a scratch.

Larissa retreated with another jump, and Astor launched his rhino to attack again.

But each time, Larissa waited until the last moment to jump.

"She's playing with him," observed Min, narrowing his eyes.

"It seems like a psychological strategy," deduced Ren. "Each time she dodges by such a narrow margin, she makes him pay attention to timing and increases Astor's frustration."

Indeed, after several failed charges by increasingly reduced margins, Astor's expression began to tense. His orders to the rhinoceros became more abrupt, his calculations less precise.

"You almost caught me that time," commented Larissa after a particularly tight jump. "One more centimeter to the right and it would have been my end."

It was a deliberate provocation, and it worked exactly as expected. Astor, irritated by what he perceived as condescension, ordered his rhinoceros to execute a series of faster charges with its new activated abilities, each from a different angle.

"A mistake," murmured Ren, watching how the strategy developed. "He's exhausting his beast unnecessarily. That's why Larissa isn't attacking him with long jumps anymore and only throws small stones at him... She's saving mana."

Larissa continued her game of dodging by impossibly narrow margins with short jumps followed by attacks directed at Astor to force him to return the rhino to the starting point, occasionally adding comments that only served to increase Astor's frustration.

It wasn't cruelty; it was pure tactics, designed to make her opponent spend mana.

Finally, after almost ten minutes of this exchange with no apparent results, Larissa changed her approach.

"It's been fun," she declared, reappearing after her last jump in an offensive position, "but it's time to see if that defense is as good as you think."

With a fluid movement, she materialized her mineral spear. The weapon shone with golden light, a glow that seemed to use Larissa's light element in a way similar to Ren's style.

Astor, recognizing the threat, absorbed his rhinoceros to adopt a purely defensive posture. The plates on his skin grew, acquiring a deeper blue tone.

Larissa attacked with elegant precision, her spear seeking the points where the plates joined or had just finished expanding in the small openings of the formidable defense.

To the surprise of many, possibly including Larissa herself, the rhinoceros's defense proved even more formidable than it appeared. Even the adjacent skin was quite hard thanks to the enormous increase in defense, and the spear barely managed to leave marks and superficial cuts.

"Impressive," acknowledged Larissa after several attempts. "Your defense is truly exceptional."

Astor smiled for the first time since the combat began. "The Blue Rhinoceros has the best natural defense of almost all beasts at its level," he declared with pride. "Not even a tier 3 beast can damage it easily."

"True," nodded Larissa. "I guess I'll have to try something different."