Insect Tamer's Ascension

"Finally, I am out of the room; it feels pretty good," a tall man stated while stretching his arms horizontally.

There was a little kid just opposite to him and two other people.

"But I guess you won't understand, Theo. You always live in your room anyway." Lucien spoke again with a hearty laugh, and Theo chuckled.

They were outside the castle, just at the entrance of the Barony. Both Clara and the attendant were there with them.

"What did Father say about the situation, elder brother? Did he understand it?" Theo asked in curiosity.

"Well, he knows me well, and the situation was not that severe anyway. It only became a problem because an heir of the Barony was in harm," Lucien stated thoughtfully.

Theo nodded. Lucien had just come out of the room a few hours ago. The first thing he did was run around in the castle's boundaries like a maniac and then call onto Theo to start with his training.

"We had to waste this one week that we didn't have. Now, tell me what you did for the last week, Theo," Lucien spoke again, his tone serious now.

Theo stated everything, and Lucien nodded. While the week was very hectic for Theo, he was able to explain it in just a minute because of how repetitive everything was.

"Good, so your main skill is not level 1 as I told you but level 2 now, and your body training has been extensive too," Lucien repeated things Theo had just said.

He crouched down and inspected Theo's leg muscles, only to frown.

"Hmm… there is still not a lot of it, but we can't expect it to develop in just a week of training." He went back on his feet again and patted Theo's shoulders. "But I didn't think you would work so passionately toward this goal. I thought you would be dropping this impossible task anytime now."

Theo only smiled at the comment. "I won't know unless I give it my all in these three months, elder brother. Are we going to start with the training now?"

"Yes, we will go to that slime territory in the outskirts to test some things. You will show me what that insect can do, Theo," Lucien stated.

Theo only nodded to that and tapped on the box he had in his left hand gently. The mantis was with him.

"From what I have heard, isn't Young Master Theo already very tired, Master Lucien? He has been training too hard this past week," the attendant on the side said with a calm demeanor.

Theo looked toward him. He was the attendant of Lucien who had been with him for a long time.

He was a little shorter than Lucien but still very tall in terms of everyone present right now.

"My apologies for not introducing myself, Young Master Theo. My name's Cassian; it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Cassian, the attendant, spoke with a proper bow.

"You don't have to worry about me, Cassian. I have been resting very well with training."

Cassian only nodded with a smile before he turned toward Clara. His expression changed for a second before he gave a hearty bow to her too.

For some reason, Theo didn't like that expression, but since Clara didn't look uncomfortable and only gave a simple greeting to him without breaking her character, he let it go.

All four of them went inside a single carriage this time, and Theo told him about what he was planning to do and what he was already doing on the side.

Lucien seemed uninterested at first, but when Theo mentioned knife throwing, he asked some things in curiosity.

It seemed Lucien had only ever trained in hand-to-hand combat and with his tamed beasts. Throwing daggers had not been on his mind ever.

They reached the outskirts of the forest, and Theo heard a tapping sound from the box. He smiled and opened the lid, making the mantis hop and perch on his shoulder.

Both the attendant and Lucien looked at it with seriousness, and at one point, even the mantis was staring at Lucien as if he was trying to take its food away or something.

"Such a peculiar creature… hmm…" Lucien spoke and looked closer. Theo gave the mantis a cautious command to not attack Lucien.

After the fight with the ape, he was confident that the mantis had no limit as to what it could hunt or not. Either its confidence was huge, or it was dumb enough to think everything was the same strength.

Theo had read in some books that beasts after breaking through the level 10 cap were able to express their thoughts through the bond too.

"Wait a minute, is your insect bigger or something?" Lucien asked with a frown, and Theo smiled.

"It is, elder brother."

"How?"

"For now, I don't know, but I'm trying to figure it out."

Theo refrained from telling him about the partial evolution, and Clara was so good in this assignment that she didn't let a single emotion show on her face.

In just a few more minutes, the carriage finally stopped, and everyone hopped off it.

Theo saw the forest with nostalgia; he hadn't seen it for a while now.

Just when Theo took a step forward, both of Clara's beasts came out and went into formation.

The boar was at his left, while the pup was near the right leg.

Lucien whistled playfully, looking at how protective Clara was. He looked toward his own attendant, and they both chuckled.

"Will you be taking out your beasts too, elder brother?" Theo asked.

"If I do, all the slimes in this area will go into hiding, Theo. For today, we are going to test what your insect can do."

Theo, the beasts, and Clara went in their own formation like usual, while both Lucien and his attendant were aloof.

Lucien even had his arms up and hands at the back of his head.

They quickly reached a nostalgic clearing, and Theo, for the first time in a while, saw some slimes.

He felt a surge of excitement bubble in him for a second and looked at the mantis with a smile.

"It's time to shine, Theo," Lucien muttered, and Theo nodded.

He already checked the levels of the four slimes, and not one of them was above level 4.

Theo still didn't know how the mantis would fare with the level 4 moss slime. With its main skill at level 2 now, Theo had quite the confidence, even though experience told him it could be tough.

He gave a command, and the mantis hopped off his shoulder and traveled briskly toward the slimes in the clearing.

"It has good camouflage ability," Cassian stated, and Lucien seemed to nod.

It was tough looking at the mantis in a lush green forest, but Theo now knew how to do so, as it had been a while since he saw it in its camouflage.

The mantis reached the first slime almost instantly and became a light blur. The next second, the slime popped, and the other three took notice.

"Its main skill has increased in speed, Young Master," Clara spoke with a proud smile. Both Lucien and Cassian looked at the measly fight with unchanging expressions.

"Who said it used its skill, Clara?" A wide grin formed on Theo's face, and Clara became shocked.

The mantis went to the next one, which was a lower level too, and it popped almost instantaneously. Both Lucien and Cassian looked at each other before resuming to see the fight.

Another level 3 popped, and Theo had finally given a command to use its skill. It was not so fast, and while the flash in its forelegs was unseeable before, everyone saw a light shine coming from it this time.

Just when the level 3 died, Theo made the mantis make some distance without speaking, and that was when Lucien finally seemed impressed.

When the cooldown was over, Theo called out the name of the skill in his mind, and the mantis became yet another blur before the level 4 slime popped without any problem too.

[Iron Mantis killed a Moss Slime- Uncommon (Level 4)]

[Level(+) and Grade(+) difference detected]

[Adding 35% to the base EXP]

[EXP gained: 20 + 35%

Distribution:

Theo Merrick- 10.8

Iron Mantis- 16.2]

Not a single slime in that clearing knew what had happened to them. Just for a second, they saw free food like all the other small creatures, and the next second, their cores were destroyed.

Theo huffed a sigh of relief. Spore Lash wasn't even needed. It made him wonder just how strong the other skills would get if he kept grinding them.

"The last one was impressive, Theo. Your insect understands your commands and doesn't just mindlessly do everything. Your basics are strong. I have found the special ability of this insect too."

"Are you talking about its main skill?" Theo asked.

"No, not talking about that. This insect is good at surprise attacks, more so that it can become its main skill."