Insect Tamer's Ascension

All this time, whatever the mantis ate was either some chitin-covered insects or a lot of meat from the beasts of many types.

There were not many times when the mantis was seen eating greens, which made sense all this time, as since it was an 'Iron mantis', it hadn't eaten anything but flesh and insects.

However, during a certain breakfast on the 2nd day of training, while the mantis was eating some ores on the same table where Theo was eating his breakfast, it was the first time the mantis went and took something from his plate.

Even Theo was surprised, and it was not because of the sudden eating of his food, but because instead of taking the meat pieces, the mantis had taken some of the leafy greens and the other greens.

It was that day Theo first saw it eat vegetarian stuff, which clicked to be abnormal right away.

After that day, Theo started giving the mantis a lot of raw and boiled green vegetables and leaves, which the mantis ate without any nitpicking.

Before he could realize that eating all this green stuff was heightening the regeneration of the moss, Theo realized that it might have been happening because the mantis now had the nature affinity.

It was now eating things that its species had not seen eating in all the hobbyist books he read.

It was that day and then the fifth one that Theo realized that eating these leafy greens was helping to improve the time the regenerative moss came back.

So, Theo started giving it greens with all the meat and ores it ate, which had become a normal routine.

This helped improve the ability a lot faster.

And just like that, another 5 days had passed away, and the progress went even better.

He was able to get to the last stages of the metallic strike skill; now, only a few percentage points were needed before he could reach level 3.

The same was with the spore lash skill, it reached just a little more than the middle toward level 3.

Another 5 days and the metallic strike was finally level 3, the spore lash was at the end of level 3, while the regenerative moss was in the middle.

But Theo knew that these 15 days of just leveling the abilities were enough, and even when he would start gaining experience now, it wouldn't be enough to reach level 5, no matter what.

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"We never took this route before, Clara."

In the same old carriage, Theo spoke while looking out the window, winds blew past his face, bringing him relief. The way to the forest was always a time he cherished.

"The Ironbark Boar territory is quite far, young master. Our usual route will take a lot of time."

"How long was it again?" Theo asked. There was no frown on his face, the winds were too right of a temperature to feel frustrated.

"50 minutes."

"30 more, huh."

The mantis was right by his side, on his shoulder, seemingly taking the same winds from the window as him.

It was the day when Theo had finally decided to venture inside the Ironbark Boar territory.

The territory was on the different side of the forest, and according to Clara, it wasn't just at the outskirts but at the deeper side too.

After they were finally there, Theo got out of the carriage and looked at the forest. There was nothing different about it.

"You have to be very close to me this time, young master," Clara spoke before she stretched her body fully. Her leather armor stretched completely, yet it only made Theo look at how flexible the leather was.

"Good luck out there, young master and Ice Lady," Warren spoke from the seat before he nodded and kept a straw hat on his face.

Clara just clicked her tongue and made the boar and the pup come out of the beast case.

"He's growing bigger too, Clara. That's great." Theo ruffled the thick and fluffy fur of the pup, making it want to lick Theo's face, yet it seemed a command came in at the last moment, making it stop.

"He will grow into an adult in just a few more months, young master. You will see how great he becomes then," Clara said with a proud face as if she was a mother telling others about her children's achievements.

Theo just chuckled and patted both of them before he moved and looked at the forest again.

The mantis was right at his shoulder and was looking toward the forest from the moment it came there.

Theo did not know how the mants knew that they were going to do something new this time. It might have been due to his bond with the mantis that helped him not only send emotions its way but the other way around too.

The formation was formed again, and Theo was in the middle of it with all the protection he could get.

"Most of the boars we will find will be no less than level 3, young master. Their hides get thicker with each level up. Only the little ones of the boars below level 2 will be together with their mother this time of the year. We will not engage those ones this time," Clara instructed, and Theo nodded.

"The mothers are very aggressive and can fight even more aggressively than usual because she wants to protect her babies," Theo stated, and Clara just nodded with a happy smile.

Theo was keeping up with the information, which was the most vital skill a leader could have.

"Alright, it's about time we enter this place," Clara said one last thing before they started moving with the formation again.

Warren peeked from the side of the straw hat on his face, and soon, a smile formed on his face.

Theo had finally entered the outskirts of the forest and kept traveling further. According to Clara, there was no use in cutting through the big grass this time, and the reason could be seen further.

He couldn't have been more excited, it was about time he defeated a being five or even more times the mantis's size.

Yet before anything could start, a question popped into his mind that seemed important to address.