This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange-Chapter 608: A New Inhabitant?

Kain didn't immediately leave his star space. He wanted to make sure that there were no lingering danger or injuries that may flare up to harm him during an important moment—like during a breakthrough.

Kain meticulously scoured every corner for signs of instability. Pangea's surface had settled, the violent tremors replaced by an eerie calm. The Source energy, once a rampant storm, now hung in the air like a fine mist, its density greatly diminished but still present. The creatures that had survived the initial surge were adapting, their forms altered but still alive.

'There should be no major issues…'

Kain then began inspecting the other star spaces, brushing his consciousness lightly against each one in turn.

Bea's space hummed quietly, her presence pulsing with sluggish steadiness. Her usual mental sharpness was dulled. But she was still stable, just clearly in recovery mode.

Aegis, unsurprisingly, was absorbing the lingering Source energy fragments that still floated like mist across the star space. Now that it wasn't so concentrated, it was convenient for him to do so. Before, trying to absorb the concentrated energy would have been more akin to overeating himself to death—now it was more like a beneficial and tasty snack.

Kain examined the star containing Aegis for longer and noted that the evolved golem now bore faint traces of violet veins across his obsidian body.

Queen's star was dimmer than usual. She was resting deeply, likely recovering from the damage sustained during the earlier overload.

Only three of her Vespid guards remained alongside her slumbering form. Next to her was also a pile of green translucent orbs with a jelly-like consistency. Some had clearly visible creatures moving within, while others appeared empty. It looks like Queen had been working hard to replenish the lost numbers. Potentially, even using life-attribute spiritual power to accelerate the hatching speed. Kain guessed that the first batch of 3-4 guards should be hatching by tomorrow.

Vauleth's star was peaceful, and the recovering dragon's aura was stable. The energy spike hadn't harmed him—it had merely roused him, momentarily. Kain could feel the soft waves of hibernation settle over the space again, like a great predator curling back into slumber.

Then Kain turned to the fifth star. Although Aegis was absorbing quite a bit of the lingering Source energy, the vast majority of the Source energy remaining and not yet absorbed was headed toward this fifth space. It seemed to no longer be just a house for his future contract, but rather almost like a device to help Kain absorb and store source energy.

But despite the change in function, it looked similar to before, with the exception of fine violet-tinted cracks along its surface that were healing slowly by the second.

Yet something about it felt… off.

Not in a threatening way.

Just different.

He approached cautiously, expanding his spiritual senses to probe deeper. Immediately, he felt it.

Life.

It wasn't an illusion. The fifth star, which logically should be empty since Kain hadn't formed his fifth contract yet, felt inhabited.

His connection to it had changed. Before, his connection to it was like touching stone—familiar, but inert. Now, it was like brushing against skin—warm, reactive, alive.

But that was the strange part.

There was no contract inside.

The other stars in his core—those housing Bea, Aegis, Queen, and Vauleth—pulsed with a similar rhythm, their energies intertwined with his own through their contracts.

But the fifth star, though empty of any formal bond, now thrummed with a presence. A breath of life emanated from it, subtle yet undeniable, as if something—or someone—resided within.

Kain reached out with his consciousness, probing the star's depths. The response was immediate, like a whisper against his mind.

'Perhaps…something was born out of the collision between the soul fragment and the source energy?' But Kain still couldn't be sure it was a contract. It could be something else entirely.

Therefore, whether he should still be looking for his fifth contract was up in the air. Or if this change might affect a new contract, if he could still form one.

Kain reached out mentally toward the fifth star again to observe.

The presence didn't recoil. It welcomed him. It pulsed once—subtle and slow—like a heartbeat answering his own.

However, no matter how much Kain tried to identify the source of the feeling, nothing revealed itself. Kain did the only thing he could do…he let it be.

After all, he didn't sense any threat from it and didn't think it would grow to harm him.

Seeing that his condition had stabilized, the doppelganger watching him from the side stepped back—and vanished like mist.

The void rippled.

A chime echoed—this time soft and distant.

[Trial Complete.]

Kain exhaled slowly. The tension in his shoulders bled away.

It was over.

He'd survived.

Barely.

But even more importantly—he had learned something. The System wasn't invincible. His reliance on it, while logical, had grown to be too much.

Kain slowly opened his eyes, awareness and control of his body returning in stages. Slowly he lifted his face from the basin, mercury dripping from his chin.

But before he could truly reorient himself, he heard a horrified gasp and shocked murmuring in a foreign language.

Kain looked to find a female figure, head still submerged in the basin.

However, whereas most other participants had only had their heads take on the eerie metal statue-like appearance—this person had completely turned into metal. From their head, to their toes, to their clothes. It looked like they'd been dipped completely in a liquid metal allowed to harden, freezing them in time forever.

But rather than shock and horror at the frozen-over victim, Kain only felt relief. Especially once he looked to his side and saw a pair of familiar bright blue eyes.

Yes, the victim mentioned by the clone created by the relic was unexpected—Lazy Zhao. Who Kain had assumed was the strongest on the side of the Easterners. Truthfully, Kain had thought the other smaller eastern girl would die before her, or even the white-eyed ally of Cassian, or—he hated to admit it— Serena.

But it looks like, as the Holy son alluded to, these trials were not dependent on raw strength—at least not within the traditional definition of strength.