Insect Tamer's Ascension
Chapter 150 - 150: Bigger Danger (4)- Sudden attack

With surprise, Theo looked at the front legs, and his eyes widened. The left foreleg's hoof was gone, and Theo could only see the leg's end at the bottom, dripping with blood.

'What… but how?' Theo asked himself.

Only after he actually tried using the mantis's skill to the extreme did Theo realize its current strength.

Quantifying it in numbers through the system was good, but looking at it in real life made Theo think positively about his growth.

The boar kept squealing, and Elias didn't look happy about it. He gave a look to the ape beside him.

The ape snorted and moved forward, entering the clearing. The boar didn't even realize such a big beast was approaching, as it was writhing in pain.

When the mantis's Metallic Strike cooldown was over, it became a blur again, making the ape halt before Theo got a notification of the system pop in front of him.

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[Moss Carapace Mantis defeated an Ironclad Boar – Uncommon (Level 5)]

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

[Adding 30% to the base EXP]

[EXP gained: 20 + 30%

Distribution: Theo Merrick – 10.4

Moss Carapace Mantis – 15.6]

__________

"It's finally dead," Theo said with a sigh of relief. The ape made its way back to them, seeing that the job was already completed.

"Young master, this really can't do," Elias spoke with a serious face, making Theo confused.

"What?"

"Chip just found 3 boars coming toward us. It might have been all that sound coming from that boar…" He spoke and pointed at the dead boar in the clearing.

Theo looked at it and finally realized, "Hm… there may have been a lot more noise than usual," he thought out loud.

"So while defeating enemies a lot stronger than the mantis, I also have to make sure they don't make much sound, huh…"

"Young master, as this is the outskirts, it's still okay for the beasts to make such noises. But when it comes to the deeper parts, even a single voice of weakness can make many beasts come toward the location for an opportunity of free experience, by making a habit of stopping them from making a lot of sound, it will benefit you in the long run" Elias spoke and closed his eyes for a few seconds while Theo realized the information.

"That makes sense," Theo spoke and questioned, "But the 3 boars that are approaching, what are their levels?"

"I just got the information, young master. The boar to the north is level 4, and there are two approaching from the east while fighting each other. They are level 3 and 2, respectively."

"Level 4, 3, and 2, huh…" Theo thought for a moment before a grin crept on his face. Elias saw it and couldn't help but shake his head. He had heard about this expression.

"Alright, it's decided. I will take care of the level 4 and 3 ones while you take on the level 2. Got it?"

Elias stared at Theo for a few seconds before he finally decided to say something, "I don't want to be rude, but… can you handle 2 beasts at the same time, young master? One of them is level 4, as I have told you."

He spoke but soon realized something else, "Oh! That's right, why don't you take care of the lower levels while this one here deals with the level 4? This will make things easier. Or… we can just run away toward the carriage without taking further risks."

"Rejected. Tell me when they are approaching." Theo rejected the opinion right away, making Elias's eyebrow twitch.

"The ones that are together are approaching in a minute, while the level 4 one will be here in half a second. If you listen carefully, you will hear," Elias spoke.

He kept his hand at the back of his ear as if trying to act like he was listening carefully.

Theo did the same, and soon, he started hearing the voice of grass rustling and light 'thud' sounds as if something was running very fast. The voice became clearer every second.

'Mantis, get ready.' Theo gave a mental command, making the mantis get its face out of the boar's neck wound and look up with vigilance.

It seemed it could now hear the sound of something approaching too.

THUD THUD THUD THUD

Soon, the rustling and the running voice came from so close that Theo could see the grass rustle near them.

He gave another mental command, and the mantis hopped and camouflaged itself closer to the boar's corpse.

Theo was already outside the clearing in a rather safe place. If this hiding spot was not detected by the level 5 boar, it wasn't possible for the level 4 to detect it either.

Soon, the boar entered the clearing and tried stopping itself, which took quite the power.

Theo saw its forelegs dig in the ground and still move, making deep crevices in the already loose ground.

It looked around, and when it saw the dead corpse on the ground near it, a snort of frustration came from its nose.

It looked around to find the predator that had killed the boar on the ground, but when it found nothing, the boar, simple-mindedly, traveled toward the dead boar and sniffed it.

Theo chuckled inwardly. The boars really were simple creatures, truly something that resided in the outskirts of a forest.

After it sniffed enough, the boar dug its tusks into the boar's body to open it up. Blood spurted out everywhere, and the ground was stained for a moment before all the blood got absorbed into the soil.

The boar took a big bite out of the corpse, and that was when Theo saw the flashing light again. He smacked his head when the current boar screamed in sudden fright too.

'That little glutton can't stand its food being stolen…' Theo thought and quickly focused on the fight that had automatically started.

Just when the boar was about to run away, Theo made the mantis use 'Spore Lash'.

In all these fights, the mantis was so, so small that all everyone could ever see was a beast frantically looking around and dying out of nowhere with small but deep wounds.

THUD

Yet another fight had started, and Theo patiently completed it.

The time was approaching when he would try his hand with a level 7 beast.

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Meanwhile,

In the same forest, a group was traveling toward a certain location.

"Is our target nearby?" the man with a single arm asked with a serious expression.

His gaze fell on the little girl traveling in the middle of the group.

"Yes, the target is locked on," The girl, no older than fourteen, stated with her eyes closed.

The individuals in this group seemed so different from each other that it felt odd.