Insect Tamer's Ascension

Theo glanced back and caught Lucien’s gaze.

Lucien pointed upward, and only then did Theo notice the massive silhouette of the python. It was hard to distinguish, as the creature had blended perfectly with the tree, its body mimicking the color of the bark so well that it was hard to tell which was a branch and which was the snake’s body.

Theo’s eyes traced downward, trying to gauge just how big the python was, and he drew a deep breath upon realization.

The python was enormous.

*****

Cremira python

Rare

Level 10

Type: Earth type beast

*****

Theo opened his small notebook and carefully wrote down the details, following the structured status template which he had learned from the instructors.

Once he was done, Clara tapped his shoulder. Theo turned to her with a ’asking’ look.

"We can record this later. Shall we begin the hunt, young master?" she asked, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

Theo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

"Wait, before that, let me use my ability on the boar and the ape," Theo said, moving over to them. He tapped each of them once and activated his ability.

"If they gain an evolution requirement now, it will be pretty helpful."

Clara’s and Elias’s eyes lit up with excitement, and as if it had understood what Theo had done, the boar, too, was all fired up.

No creature was dumb enough to not realize what Theo and Mantis had been doing all this time. The tiny mantis, a beast so small that it had barely been the size of the boar’s hoof, had now grown bigger than its head, as if it were normal.

’Oh shit!’

Theo felt the spatial energy suddenly shift.

In the next instant, the mantis hopped out, only to turn into a blinding flash of light once more.

Theo resisted his urge to smack his forehead with his palm. Now was not the time to show that something had gone wrong.

’Mantis, don’t you kill it,’ he warned.

As if he had the best timing in the world, the mantis was already racing up the python’s body, letting out a sharp screech.

The python reacted instantly, its massive form coiling and snapping back toward the mantis, its jaw wide open.

’The suppression isn’t working?’ Theo wondered since the python was moving without any visible hindrance.

But before the python could gobble up the mantis in front of everyone, the mantis flashed into a blinding light again and reappeared above the python’s head, only to latch one foreleg onto a tree branch and look down at the python coldly.

A spray of blood followed as one side of the python’s face was cleanly sliced open.

The massive beast came toward the ground, and that was when Theo received the notification.

He quickly noted down all the other things he had observed, along with the EXP it granted, recording it carefully in his diary.

He was on a surveillance mission, so every detail needed to be recorded.

Everyone watched as the python’s enormous body slowly hit the ground with different expressions on their faces. Soon, a series of continuous ’THUD’ echoed as the python’s body fell down until finally its head struck the ground with an extra loud pop and ’THUD’.

Theo let out another sigh and stood up, just in time to see the mantis hop off the tree and land on the python’s corpse before it immediately began tearing into its flesh and eating it like a savage.

The group slowly moved closer, each wearing a different expression, before their gazes shifted toward Theo.

"I guess this python here won’t be an issue anymore. I have recorded all the details already, so let’s move forward," Theo said with his calm, poker face, making everyone stare at him.

Kaelor stepped closer to the corpse and scraped the blade of his sword along the python’s hide and frowned.

"Your beast’s attacks are very strong," he said.

His sword began to get enveloped with aura, the energy output increasing with each second. Theo and Lucien watched with sparkling eyes as the output increased. And only when it reached a moderate level did the tip of the sword finally pierce the python’s thick hide.

Theo nodded slightly, then turned to the group. "What do you all think about setting up camp first? Sir Garrick, did you find any suitable spots beside this one?"

Garrick shook his head. "I found a river about minutes from here... but it’s crimson colored as well; it looks more like a river of blood, young master..."

Theo frowned. "No proper water source then huh... But we will check it out later. For now, I think we should establish our base camp in this place. What do you guys think?"

The group exchanged uncertain glances.

Seeing their hesitation, Theo decided to make things a lot easier and took charge. "We will get rid of this entire shrub area, check for the materials if they are poisonous or not, cut down some smaller trees, and start building small shelters for everyone. It might take us a full day."

"What’s the use of doing all that? Let’s just keep moving forward and explore," Merek scoffed.

Before Theo could respond, Lucien interjected with a firm voice. "You don’t know when you will find the exit gate; it could take days from now or even weeks. It’s better to have a base where we can return before dawn every day to rest safely."

Merek still didn’t look convinced by the idea, but he nodded anyway.

"The instructor already told us that we will need to build a base camp, so there shouldn’t be any issue." Theo added.

Then he took off his bag, opened it, and pulled out a hatchet along with a small tool that looked like a poison-detecting device.

"We will start with this large shrub first."

He spoke and stepped forward, pressing the device against it to check for poison.

A moment later, the device glowed green.

Seeing the satisfied result, Theo sighed in relief.

The others followed suit, pulling out their own tools and starting to test nearby materials before thinking of using them.

Turned out, the trees didn’t have any poison in them and were safe to be used.

The same went with the red-colord growths. Despite their strange appearance, they were harmless.

Theo then went and pressed the tool on the python’s corpse, and the device turned green too.

"Well," he said, a faint smile forming on his face, "looks like we have got our food sorted too. Let’s cut this thing open."

The horrified look everyone gave Theo after his words, save for a few, was one to look at.

It was time to toughen these spoiled individuals up.