Insect Tamer's Ascension

Everyone kept looking at the thing in his hand for a few seconds before Clara came out of her trance.

"Young master… now that is real treasure," she said while marveling at the glow of the stone in his hand.

Aside from being in the soil for whatever time frame it was, there was not a single soil or root attached to it.

Theo looked at it from all angles before he looked at the boar and the pup coming toward him with their tongues out.

He felt weird from their reaction, as the boar had not acted like this for as long as he remembered.

But just before they could come toward him, Clara quickly made it to them and pulled both their ears with a little strength.

"I-I don't know what it is doing here, but that is definitely a star stone, young master," Clara spoke with a pale face before looking at her beasts, who were okay now but were still looking at the stone with their mouths salivating.

"No, I am sure from their reaction, this definitely is a star stone, young master. We need to leave quickly," she said hurriedly.

Theo was confused all this while, yet when he heard her say to leave, he quickly got up.

Suddenly, he felt a tug on his hand. When he looked down, he saw the mantis with its forelegs latched onto the stone.

Theo did not know when it came there, but the mantis was trying a pull-up right now to get a taste of the glowing stone in his hand.

"Young master! Please, we have to get going!" Clara shouted this time, and Theo quickly pulled the mantis from the stone and kept it on his shoulder before he kept the stone in his pocket.

They started brisking out of the clearing when Theo finally asked something, "What is with this stone, Clara? Why are our—I mean your—beasts acting like this?" Theo stated.

The boar and pup were acting weird, and the mantis was built like this from the start, so he didn't feel a change.

"That stone, as its name suggests, came from the stars, young master. It has enough energy to help any lower-grade beast grow significantly in strength. All this time, researchers had conducted so many studies on it, but they couldn't find the main reason. This is a mystery stone," Clara spoke while mildly running with a serious face.

Theo looked at his pocket with widened eyes, "Why was something like this in the forest to begin with?"

"…The forest is filled with such things, young master. Things even better than this, but they are only found in the deep part of it. All I know is that this stone will definitely attract attention to us."

"I have so much more to ask, but it doesn't seem like the right time."

They kept brisking out of the forest, yet there was no end to it. The boar's territory was already in the deeper end of the outskirts.

RUSTLE

Clara's steps tightened and latched onto the ground, and she pulled Theo's arm too.

Theo looked to his right, but there was nothing but tall grass there. But he was sure, the sound of movement that was not theirs came from this direction.

RUSTLE

Clara nodded toward Theo, and they kept silent for a few more seconds. The boar and the pup were like a statue right now, their training showing the value.

Theo looked at the mantis, who was surprisingly calm too, its eyes latched to the same location, and Theo wondered what it was seeing right now.

Another few seconds and no sound made Clara take a step forward. There was little to no sound in it. Theo did the same, and so did the two beasts with them.

They kept taking steps like this before another 'RUSTLE' sound came.

Only this time, it was from the opposite direction. Theo did not look and kept taking his step forward slowly. Fighting in the big grass could be disastrous, as he was absolutely sure that there were more than two beasts or humans there.

They kept walking, and the rustling sounds increased. Clara properly stopped. So did Theo and the beasts.

RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE

Clara slowly moved her head toward Theo, who was already looking at her. Her hand slowly moved to prevent making involuntary sounds.

'Prepare to fight,' Clara said in hand movements, and Theo nodded his head.

The rustling sounds were still there, and there was one more variable now… the sounds came from all directions.

They kept standing like this for a very long time, but it didn't make sense to do so now. The rustling sounds were as if coming from close with every passing second.

Clara was making the signs again, and Theo nodded in understanding.

But he frowned when he felt some tapping on his neck, he looked down at the manti, who was staring forward.

When Theo did the same, he froze. Just to her side, he could see tusks coming out of the tall grass. In just a split second, Theo saw the whole face of a boar whose eyes were now latched on to Clara.

His gaze widened, and he moved his hand forward in panic to get Clara out of danger.

When Clara finally realized something was near her back, her face went serious, and she not only smacked Theo's hand away but also pushed him to fall forward after scanning the front for a second.

Theo watched as Clara guarded her back by curving a little. He saw her body tense up as if she was bracing for an impact.

THAM!

Yet the next second, she flew toward the side so fast that Theo felt like she was hit by a truck.

"!!!!!!!"

SQUEAAKKKK!

Clara's boar roared with its all, its eyes bloodshot while it looked at the boar that had hit her.

Theo felt even more panic. Was she hit with the tusks? No, if she did, she would have latched to the boar's tusks with her body pierced by now. But was she okay?

Theo looked in the direction she flew but saw all the tall grass had already covered her tracks.

It was only him and this boar now with Clara's beasts.

"Bring it on, you fucker."

Theo's eyes were bloodshot with anger, but he didn't know just what situation he had gotten himself in right now.