Chapter 698: Chapter 698 - Taming the Fifth Year - Optional Paths - 7

"How much do we have?" Ren finally asked, when his team began reporting they couldn’t carry more without compromising mobility.

"The backpacks are at maximum even in the backs of our beasts," the girl responded, adjusting straps that cut into their shoulders under weight. "And your Wolverine..."

"Full too," Ren confirmed, feeling the weight through the bond like phantom pressure. "Good... This should be sufficient for the first trip."

"Sufficient for the first trip?" another laughed, almost hysterically with exhaustion and disbelief mixed. "Ren, this is... this surely is worth more than what most teams gather even if you gave them a full week."

"First place is what we came to get," Ren shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal yet. "The majority doesn’t matter, but I know several who will obtain very good quantities too, so we can’t be overconfident... Now we have to return and do 2 more trips, way faster than this one."

He looked toward the marked tunnel they’d followed to arrive here. The blackened silk and marks he’d left could be seen in the distance, guiding them back like breadcrumbs through the labyrinth.

"But don’t worry, the return trip will be faster easily," he announced with confidence born from his careful planning. "We already know the way. And most of the spiders already evaluated us. They won’t bother us if we don’t provoke them."

Zhao smiled openly now, clearly proud of his student in ways that went beyond professional satisfaction.

The Strahlfang watcher seemed to be reevaluating every assumption he’d had about this student, about commoners, about what education versus innate talent could produce.

And Klein...

Klein finally understood why Luna had fallen for Ren despite all the social barriers and family situations that should have prevented it.

Why people as important as Larissa and Liora always followed him, seeking his company and guidance.

Why even the nobles who hated him couldn’t deny his results, couldn’t dismiss achievements too concrete to ignore.

It wasn’t luck or circumstances aligning impossibly.

It wasn’t cheating or outside help distorting competition.

It was simply that Ren Patinder operated on a completely different level from the rest of them.

Without any doubt...

They were going to win again.

And it wasn’t going to be even remotely close.

♢♢♢♢

Web Tunnels - Pursuing Group C - 26 Hours Since Exam Start

"Another one!" the leader shouted, his beast dispatching the Bronze 2 Greater Agile Weaver with a blow that crushed it against the wall with a sickening crunch.

The spider collapsed, its legs bending at impossible angles while body fluids spilled over the silk in spreading stains.

It was the tenth they’d killed in the last hour alone.

And they kept coming.

"Where the hell are they all coming from?" one member gasped, exhausted by constant combat that didn’t let them rest or gather properly.

Their tutor observed with a worried expression, trying to understand the pattern that wasn’t making sense. They’d entered the tunnels already over a day ago. Twenty-six hours of slow advance, guessing routes, fighting against spiders that seemed to multiply with each hour that passed.

"It doesn’t make sense," the tutor murmured to himself. "Weavers are territorial but there shouldn’t be this density everywhere. It’s like if..."

Another spider appeared from a side tunnel. Silver 1 this time since they were at the border between zones, larger, more dangerous with venom that could seriously hurt the Silver rank students.

The team launched into combat, dispatching it after an exchange that left two of them with minor venom wounds that burned and slowed their reactions.

The tutor approached the body, observing how the fluids mixed with the tunnel floor silk. He knelt, sniffing cautiously despite the beast acrid smell.

And understood with dawning horror.

"Stop," he ordered, his voice cutting through the group’s exhaustion. "Stop killing them."

"What?" the leader looked at him like he’d lost his mind. "You want us to let ourselves be surrounded?"

"I want to ’suggest’ you stop calling more," the tutor pointed to the multiple spider bodies scattered through the tunnel behind them, a trail of corpses marking their passage. "The fluids... They combine with the silk and roots. They give off a different smell."

"So?"

"And I think that smell calls them," the tutor stood up, his expression grim with realization of their mistake. "Each spider you kill sends a signal. More come to investigate. Kill those, and more come. It’s an endless cycle like this..."

The silence that followed was heavy. They’d been creating their own problem through ignorance, making everything worse with each "victory".

"So... what do we do?" someone asked, voice small, tired and even a little afraid.

The tutor looked forward, toward where the tunnels continued indefinitely into white darkness.

"Escape or avoid," he said finally. "As you should have been doing from the beginning. Only fighting if there’s no alternative and moving away from the corpse routes."

The leader groaned, looking at the team’s half-full backpacks. They’d gotten pieces of decent silk, yes. Nothing spectacular because of the low rank, but acceptable for passing grades.

But reaching Silver 3 like this, trying to guess a route while fighting constantly...

It was too much to ask. Impossible given their resources and knowledge.

"How long have we been at this?" the leader asked.

"Twenty-six hours," the watcher responded.

Twenty-six hours and they’d barely reached the edge between Bronze 2 and Silver 1, progress measured in painful meters.

While Ren...

Ren was already returning, almost exiting the tunnels with a fortune in silk.

They weren’t going to win.

They weren’t even going to compete meaningfully.

They could only hope to gather enough to pass the exam without failing completely.

♢♢♢♢

Web Tunnels - Ren’s Group - Bronze 1

The return trip had been significantly faster, exactly as Ren had predicted with confidence that was proving justified.

The marks he’d left were perfect guides in the semi-darkness. The spiders they encountered recognized them, staying apart after previous interactions that had established this group was a threat not worth facing, lessons learned and remembered.

And the weight on their backs...

The weight was satisfying rather than burdensome.

Each team member carried backpacks filled to the bursting limits with first-quality silk. Ren’s Wolverine was at maximum capacity, its dimensional space saturated with rolls that would be worth fortunes in the markets.

They’d reached Bronze 1, near the Iron ring and almost out of the main tunnels, when Ren stopped abruptly.

His hand rose in a halt signal that brooked no delay or questions.

The team obeyed immediately, freezing in their positions with discipline that had become instinct quite fast.

Klein felt his pulse accelerate, heart suddenly pounding. Something in Ren’s posture had changed... It was no longer the relaxed confidence of someone navigating known territory.

It was tense.

Alert awareness of danger.

Ren looked ahead, up and to the sides... his eyes scanning the tunnel they had to traverse. At first glance, there was nothing obviously wrong. Just the white tunnel continuing like all the others they’d passed through.

Behind them, the Strahlfang retreated slightly. The movement was subtle, but like someone who knew something was about to happen.

Yet nobody looked at him...

All attention was on Ren and whatever he’d detected that others couldn’t sense yet.

"Professor Zhao," Ren called without looking away from the tunnel ahead. His voice was low but clear.

The professor approached, his own senses extending outward in detection patterns honed over years. For a moment, he said nothing, simply evaluating what his enhanced perception revealed.

Then his eyes narrowed with recognition and concern.

"Yes," Zhao confirmed, his tone equally cautious. "I detect them."

"What?" Klein asked, his focus moving instinctively toward his beast, preparing for fusion without conscious thought.

"Three groups," Ren responded, still without moving, every sense focused forward. "Waiting ahead. Positions that suggest ambush."

The team tensed as one, understanding crystallizing.

"Other students?" the girl asked, nervousness bleeding into her voice.

"Yes," Zhao confirmed. "But something is strange."

He paused, his expression becoming more serious.

"If three groups want to attack us to take what we have, it makes sense that students would be prepared to fight. It’s within competition rules, technically... Opportunistic theft."

"But..." Klein pressed when Zhao’s pause stretched too long.

"But the tutors and watchers shouldn’t be in combat positions," Zhao completed, words heavy with implications that made Klein’s blood run cold.