Chapter 697 - Taming the Fifth Year - Optional Paths - 6

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Chapter 697: Chapter 697 - Taming the Fifth Year - Optional Paths - 6 The group continued advancing, encountering more spiders as they went deeper into Silver territory. The second encounter was an agile variant, its body more slender and its movements significantly faster than the constructor’s slower pace. This one didn’t hesitate initially, launching toward them with a speed that would make most students panic and fumble their response. "Use your Hawk wings," Ren ordered calmly without a hint of the urgency the situation might seem to warrant. "Send a wind burst at its center of mass... Again, don’t kill it, just push it back." The hawk boy reacted in time, his beast manifesting partially in his arms while he swung them hard, launching concentrated wind with a common technique he’d practiced all the time. Yet the first attempt was too weak... The spider barely staggered, momentum barely affected by the insufficient force. He had thought of not killing, but had lowered the power too much. "Stronger," Ren instructed without criticism, just correction. "About fifty percent more intense." The next attempts were better, demonstrating he was learning fast. The spider was pushed backward, its legs scraping the walls while trying to maintain grip, claws leaving gouges in the silk. When it finally stabilized several meters back, it simply stayed there watching them. Evaluating... Deciding finally that these strong intruders weren’t worth the effort when mana was enough in the forest to live. "Good," Ren approved the execution and result. "Next time try to hit it a bit weaker but more concentrated at the center... The point isn’t to push or dominate. It’s to show being strong enough that they realize they’re outmatched and should not see us as easy prey." They followed this pattern during the following hours of steady progress. Each encounter with spiders resolved with minimal necessary violence. Wind to push. Extra light from Ren to intimidate when needed. But never killing unless there was no alternative, conservation of the "silk workers" life alongside conservation of the groups energy. Klein observed how Ren coordinated, how he read each situation, how he seemed to understand spider behavior better than they understood themselves... ♢♢♢♢ After another long stretch of serpentine tunnels that tested memory and orientation, they finally arrived at their destination. Silver 3... No, Ren guided them to the border between Silver 3 and Gold 1, where tunnels reached their maximum possible rank and amount of mana for this gathering challenge and weavers were slightly older, more powerful, almost ready to evolve to the next rank. "Here," Ren stopped at a particular section, touching the walls with both hands like reading some spider braille. "This is what we came for." The silk in this area was visibly different from anything they’d passed through. Thicker and more lustrous... With a texture that suggested years of development in the mana rich environment, an accumulation of quality over a long time. "How do we know which to take?" the earth boy asked, seeing silk everywhere but unable to distinguish the best quality. Ren pointed to certain specific sections with precision that seemed to come from experience. "See the patterns here? The darker strands interwoven with the light ones? That indicates the correct age. Between ten and fifteen years is perfect for processing... Younger and the silk still has too much residual stickiness. Older and it becomes a bit fragile." He showed them how to cut the appropriate sections for market standard, explaining that since this was silk that could be considered old it wasn’t as elastic or resistant and the forest was preparing to absorb it, but no longer protected it as actively with its sap. Yet the cutting technique still required precision, feeling where any roots were behind the silk and cutting at specific angles to not damage the surrounding root tunnel structure. The team began working, searching and gathering the ideal sections with growing confidence in their technique. But soon the problem became evident. There weren’t that many sections of perfect age. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺 The correctly aged sections were scattered, requiring the team to spread through different tunnels to find sufficient material for a truly impressive haul. And dispersing was slow... Dangerous and inefficient in territory they didn’t know well. "This is going to take us all three days," one member murmured, frustrated after his third search produced only another small roll of appropriate silk, returns diminishing with each attempt. "Not necessarily," Ren observed a particular tunnel section with a thoughtful expression. "Now that you’ve learned the appropriate cutting technique, it’s time for mass production..." He approached the wall, placing both hands flat against a still-sticky section of silk that was some years too young for harvesting. "What are you doing?" Klein asked, approaching with curiosity overcoming his usual hesitation around Ren. "Artificially aging it," Ren responded, his hands beginning to glow with building power. It wasn’t a single color of mana in his hands. It was a relatively complex combination that made Klein’s eyes widen. Three elements working in harmony... Brown of earth, blue of water and something darker, shadows interwoven with the other two elements in complex patterns that shouldn’t be possible to control for someone so young. "He’s controlling the humidity," Zhao murmured, observing closely with professional interest. "Absorbing it hastily but without damaging the fibers... like the natural process wouldn’t." The silk under Ren’s hands began to change. Subtly at first, then more noticeably as the transformation accelerated. The lighter strands darkened slightly. The texture transformed, acquiring that lustrous quality that characterized older silk, years of aging compressed into minutes. In minutes rather than years, an entire tunnel section that would have required a decade of natural aging was ready to harvest, conversion complete. "Impossible," the Strahlfang watcher whispered, his eyes very wide with shock that cracked his supposed neutrality. Because this wasn’t just knowledge of beasts or ecosystems. This was manipulation of natural processes in ways that shouldn’t be accessible to students, mastery that suggested understanding far beyond what any academies could teach. "Doesn’t seem impossible to me for someone with multi-elemental control," Zhao corrected with a satisfied smile that didn’t want to leave his face for a minute. "Just extremely difficult. Requires precise control of three elements simultaneously, maintaining them in exact proportion while rotating them in a specific pattern. Most tamers can’t handle two elements at once. Three is..." "Absurd," the Strahlfang completed, but his tone had lost all previous arrogance. Now there was only reluctant awe, the kind that came from witnessing something that shattered assumptions built over years. Ren stepped away from the long completed section, breathing slightly heavier but clearly capable of continuing, stamina impressive for sustained elemental manipulation. "Here," he pointed to the treated section. "All of this is ready now. Harvest everything you can carry." The team didn’t need to be told twice. They launched into collection with greed at the future crystals renewing their energy, cutting section after section of perfectly aged silk, movements more and more efficient as they repeated the techniques Ren had taught them. And Ren moved to another wall. And another. And another... Each one treated with the same complex combination of elements, transforming immature material into first-quality product in a ridiculously small fraction of the time it would take naturally, like some ancient alchemy. The enormous sections of treated tunnel were continuous and easy to follow, so it didn’t take long for everyone to collect to maximum carrying capacity. Backpacks full... Ren’s Wolverine’s space filled too, with tons of silk rolls that would be worth small fortunes in the market. Klein observed everything with something increasingly close to reverence. This wasn’t just knowledge of beasts or ecosystems. This had to be some kind of mastery of the fundamental forces of the world. Mana control at a level Klein hadn’t seen in most professors, precision that took decades to develop compressed into a guy in his teenage years somehow. Ren made it seem routine, like this was simply what competent people did rather than something extraordinary. That day with the artifact he’d doubted for a moment, but now...

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