Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 577

Chapter 577: Chapter 577 - Taming the Fourth Year: Journey - 15

Julius followed Ren’s gaze, noting the altered tree formations and movement patterns in the ground that suggested massive underground activity.

"The surroundings have changed a lot," Ren continued, feeling a pang of loss as he realized how much his relationship with this place had depended on the intrinsic vision and perception his fungus had provided during those previous expeditions. "Many of the landmarks I remembered have been lost, but..."

He stopped, orienting himself using some of the left reference points that were still engraved deeply in his memory, the angle of certain hills, the way some far tree formations caught the light and the clearing with almost the same size and form.

"This place is too important to me. I would recognize it even without the help of mana patterns and energy lines."

But that didn’t solve the problem...

Despite having arrived at the source, the mutant creatures seemed to be emerging from very deep below, exactly as Julius and Ren had feared. The flow appeared constant and organized, suggesting a massive underground source that extended far beyond what they could perceive.

The ground trembled periodically with their passage, and the air carried a strange acrid scent that spoke of corruption and unnatural transformation.

"It doesn’t look like we can do anything to stop them here that couldn’t be done anywhere else along their route," Julius observed pragmatically, recognizing the futility of trying to stop a river by standing alone in its path.

Ren nodded, but instead of suggesting they return to the city, he remained motionless, listening to something that made his blood run cold.

Julius tensed, recognizing the same energy signature that Ren had perceived first.

"There’s a different energy signature. Very similar to that of the largest abomination from that day..."

Julius immediately understood what Ren was referring to. The day they had faced the corrupted creature, when Ren had been affected in a disturbing way by its proximity. The day they hadn’t truly won but had barely managed to survive and escape, leaving behind more questions than answers.

He looked at Ren with concern. The boy had changed considerably since that traumatic experience, since the loss of his fungus in the emotional upheaval.

But facing something similar again, especially in his current state...

However, when Ren met his gaze, Julius saw a resoluteness that hadn’t been there during their previous encounter with such a threat. This wasn’t the desperate bravado of someone trying to prove themselves, nor the reckless abandon of someone with nothing to lose.

This was the focused resolve of someone who had found their purpose.

Julius recognized the look from his own mirror during his darkest political crises, the moment when uncertainty transforms into commitment, regardless of personal cost.

"What’s your plan?" Julius asked, making the conscious decision to trust the boy’s judgment despite every instinct screaming caution. "Why would it be different this time?"

The question hung between them, weighted with the memory of their previous failure and the lives that depended on their success.

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