Insect Tamer's Ascension

Theo yanked his sword from the reptile’s body and twisted at the waist, driving a strike into the beast’s abdomen.

By the time he landed, the panther had already pounced on the reptile. It raked its claws across the reptile, bit down, and shook its head in a brutal attempt to tear off some of its flesh.

But within seconds, Theo realized the creature’s hide was too tough, not just for him, but for the panther as well.

The mantis emerged right away, urgency evident in its movements. Before it could use its skill, Theo stepped back and sent a command through their bond.

’Send the spores first.’

"Tell the panther to fall back, brother!"

Theo shouted, making Lucien hurry as well. The mantis had already sprayed the reptile with the spores.

Its legs turned shaky. Its eyes turned completely green, the pupils vanishing, before it collapsed, still clamping the wolf in its jaws.

Theo took a deep breath and moved forward.

When he was close enough, he placed his hands on both sides of the creature’s mouth, shut his eyes and pulled apart.

Even though it lay unconscious and paralyzed, the beast refused to loosen its grip, forcing Theo to use everything he had.

Just when he felt out of breath and his strength began to falter, Garrick seemed to have understood something and sent one of his birds towards Theo, which flapped its wings and sent powerful gusts of wind.

Theo sensed the air rush past him and opened his eyes to see the bird in action.

He knew the wind would scatter the spores away, but he took a quick breath and began pulling again using all his strength.

This time, the jaws finally gave in and opened just enough.

Lucien moved instantly, pulling the wolf free as if perfectly in sync with Theo.

"BRING OUT THE ROPES! MISS LYSARA, HEAL... NOW!" Theo shouted.

Lysara flinched, then hurried toward the clearing despite her hesitation.

The wolf’s neck was drenched in blood; its thick fur was hiding just how bad the wound truly was. It clearly wasn’t fine.

While Lysara did her thing, Theo went and grabbed a rope from Lucien before lifting the reptile’s head and tying its jaws shut as tightly as he could.

Lucien, on the other hand, went and tied its legs as quickly as he could; the reptile’s scaly claws were twitching violently, making Lucien feel like it was finally time it was going to wake up.

He tugged Theo’s shoulder, who also saw the beast’s eyes snap open before they could make some distance.

"We still don’t know all its abilities," Lucien said as they moved aside, watching the beast struggle against the ropes restraining it.

But soon, it went eerily still, like a crocodile lying in patience for its prey.

Theo’s gaze sharpened as he noticed its small forelimbs made their way toward its mouth. Despite their size, it’s moved its back with it and soon started to claw it away to get out of the restraints.

’Mantis, once more!’ Theo shouted in the bond, and the mantis released another burst of spores.

This time, the creature reacted differently. Its gaze lifted, and its mouth began to salivate, as if something inside it had gone wrong.

Theo and Lucien made their way forward again, quickly binding its forelegs as well. Only then did Theo let out a sigh of relief.

But there was no time to rest yet.

He turned toward the wolf, where Lysara was still healing it, her expression tight with a frown.

"How’s the situation?" Theo asked, his voice steady and serious as he watched the white energy flow into the wolf’s neck.

"I am doing my best," Lysara replied between strained breaths. "But that beast didn’t just bite it, young master..."

"It injected something inside the wound. I am trying to get it out right now."

She clenched her jaws and focused.

Theo glanced at Merek, whose face had gone pale.

He placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look into his eyes.

"It will be fine. Trust Lysara," Theo said firmly.

Merek said nothing and turned back to his beast. No matter how arrogant he was, while being concerned about the most important thing in the whole world for him, his eyes were filled with fear and his face looked dejected, something Theo understood all too well.

Then Theo noticed that the mantis was still near them, looking at them.

And something clicked.

No one seemed to be affected by its suppression.

That... wasn’t normal since the mantis was so close to them.

Theo looked around, his gaze shifting across the group, then stopped at Lucien. Lucien’s teeth were clenched, his eyes flicking repeatedly between the reptile and the matic.

’He is getting affected...’ he thought.

’So if they don’t see the mantis... they don’t register its presence... and if they don’t register it, they don’t feel its suppression.

Theo saw Lysara drenched in sweat, and the white aura around her flickering weakly. It was fading fast.

"You’re at your limit," Theo said.

Lysara looked at him and gave a small, strained nod.

For a few more seconds, the healing light persisted, but then it vanished abruptly. Lysara dropped both her hands to the ground, gasping for breath, her body trembling with exhaustion.

"What are you doing, healer?! Heal it!" Merek screamed.

Theo frowned.

How did this man expect to survive in this place if he kept on screaming like that? Did he want to attract more beasts toward them?

Beasts were highly sensitive to sound. With the way Merek was yelling, if there was anything around them, it was bound to pick up on the panic in the voice, marking them as an easy target.

Theo crouched and ran a hand through the wolf’s fur, checking to see any wounds, and realized there was nothing, just dirt and matted fur.

"Has the liquid come out, Lysara?" Theo asked gently.

Lysara didn’t seem like she was in the right condition right now.

She lifted her head slightly and nodded again.

Merek, meanwhile, looked like he was about to snap again.

But Theo grabbed at his shoulder again and pulled him back, which only seemed to have pissed him off even more.

"You can’t do this! Don’t you know who I am!?" Merek spat, glaring at Theo with spite.

Theo remained calm.

"The substance that was harming it is gone. If you actually looked at your beast, you would see it’s only unconscious," Theo said with an even more aggravating tone, making the man grit his teeth.

"KNOW YOUR PLACE!"