Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 57

"The mana poisoning medicine," Zhao smiled slightly, his severity beginning to crack, "was going to be our little secret. A lesson about prejudice for your classmates… and my help for the unfortunate student."

He reclined in his chair, his owl manifesting more relaxed now. "But it seems I underestimated your... initiative. Instead of needing help to last three days, you decided to venture alone into dangerous territory." Your next chapter awaits on empire

The laugh that followed was genuine, the change in his attitude flowing naturally. He hadn’t stopped being the strict professor, but now Ren could see the admiration mixed with the reprimand, like a master craftsman acknowledging a particularly clever apprentice.

"The medicine is still yours if you want it," he offered, sliding the flask across the desk with deliberate care. "Though I suspect you might have your own method for handling the poisoning."

Ren took the flask with gratitude. "Thank you, professor. And yes, I had a plan involving that Shadow Stalker body, but I’ll keep this as backup."

"I see you’re relaxing... Now," Zhao leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with genuine interest, his owl’s gaze equally intent. "How about you tell me the true story of how you acquired all this?"

The mushrooms pulsed while analyzing the professor’s new attitude. After considering for a moment, Ren decided to be more sincere.

The medicine in his pocket was a reminder that sometimes, people could surprise you in the best ways, luckily not everyone was like Wei or Jin...

♢♢♢♢

Professor Zhao’s laughter broke the tension like sunlight piercing storm clouds, transforming the atmosphere in the small office.

"Well, well," he reclined in his chair with more curiosity than threat of reprimand now. "How did you manage to enter that cave then?"

Ren carefully considered how much to reveal so his story wouldn’t seem false again, sometimes truth was indeed stranger than fiction... He decided to begin with the basics and build from there.

"The larger Bark Stalkers are slightly dangerous," he explained, gaining confidence as he saw the genuine interest in the professor’s eyes. "But they have so much accumulated vitality that they’re perfect targets for Shadow Stalker sentinels. I just needed to make one move to the right place..."

"And how did you manage that without it returning to its spot?" Zhao leaned forward, fascinated by the technical details of Ren’s plan.

Ren described his use of the worm crystal to imitate drainage waves. The professor’s eyes widened with professional appreciation.

"Ingenious. I believe the story of that worm crystal must also be interesting, but tell me first... How did you obtain so many Shadow Stalker skins in such a short time? Eliminating them, even while sleeping, isn’t so simple..."

"The females molt regularly in the deep caves," Ren continued, carefully omitting exactly how he knew to find the molting chamber in the labyrinth of the enormous cave system.

"The high concentration of individuals makes obtaining numerous skins easier, I just had to take the ones that had naturally molted."

"Fascinating," Zhao murmured while examining one of the skins with expert attention.

"In all my years exploring, I’ve only seen such perfect specimens twice... We had destroyed nests in an expedition, finding skins after days of exploring the caves, but most always show damage... It’s difficult to obtain them without marks of violence..."

"I didn’t need force," Ren smiled slightly. "Just understanding of their natural cycles."

The professor nodded thoughtfully. "You know? The King’s policy is clear, we must reward those who show true talent for exploration and gathering."

He stood and began pacing.

"It was incredibly risky, of course. With your... limitation," he gestured toward the mushrooms, "venturing so far could have ended very badly."