Insect Tamer's Ascension-Chapter 405. Did he use my abnormal luck?

"Before we enter, just one more thing," Lucien said, making everyone stop in their tracks.

"If you see a group of boars in this area, don’t approach them casually," he warned. "Once a boar passes level 10 and commands a large herd, its name changes and its strength increases dramatically. It also becomes capable of giving very good orders to the boars under its control too."

"The Ironclad Boar Patriarch, right?" Theo said, making Lucien nod.

He had already read about it in the book, and Clara knew about it from her adventuring days.

Theo glanced back one more time and saw all the apes lined up on trees, staring in their direction with unknown expressions.

The ominous part was that they weren’t screaming. They were simply sitting there in line, as if waiting for them to leave.

Theo found it extremely creepy.

Finally, they started moving, and it was time to take their first step beyond the sign.

The moment he did, Theo felt a pressure the forest had never made him feel before. And that pressure wasn’t felt on his body; rather, it was as if the gravity had increased, but in his heart.

He tried to calm himself, but right now, it felt like he couldn’t do it.

The boar, the pup and Clara were tugged along with Theo and the mantis. On one hand, Clara wanted nothing to do with the mantis, but on the other, she saw that her beasts trusted it as usual. And there was also her ’protect Theo’ duty she needed to fulfil, so she didn’t really have a choice.

’It’s the same feeling as back then... be careful here, Mantis. We will fight together if the time comes,’ Theo said through their bond, making the mantis bob its head up and down in agreement.

They walked for a few minutes along a path that wasn’t really maintained like the ones before.

But soon, the mantis suddenly straightened its body and stood on its hind legs. Its neck elongated slightly until it reached Theo’s chest in that posture.

All the beasts around them also seemed to have sensed it first, and soon everyone stopped.

"Sounds, there," Rhys said casually, even though no one except him and the beasts could hear them.

Theo turned in that direction but saw nothing except for dense vegetation.

Lucien made a sign gesturing, ’We will go there slowly,’ and everyone, including the beasts, understood it right away.

They moved forward, carefully. The boar controlled its instinct to tear through the tall grasses that blocked their path as they moved ahead.

The mantis, however, suddenly turned into a flash of blinding light.

The next second, all the grass before them was cut clean.

It returned to Theo, who was now being stared at by almost everyone.

Theo apologized through hand signs, and Lucien simply shook his head.

Still, there had been no sound, only that brief flash of light, and the area ahead was now clean for several meters.

They moved forward again, trying to remain as discreet as possible.

And the closer they got, the clearer they heard sounds of something fighting.

When they reached a large tree, Rhys signaled them to stop and told them to peek while staying behind it.

Lucien didn’t like the way Rhys was taking charge and helping them, but for now, he refrained from saying anything.

They moved behind the tree and peeked ahead as the sounds of something clashing grew louder.

When Theo glanced toward the destroyed part of the forest, which had now turned into a large clearing, his eyes widened.

Two silhouettes were locked in a battle, their bodies drenched in blood.

The larger creature let out a thunderous battle roar before currents of electricity began gathering around its antlers as a bolt of lightning shot toward the other beast.

The feline-like beast merely dodged the attack as if it were child’s play and closed the distance within seconds.

Everyone present, except for Lucien, his attendant, and Rhys, was stunned. Even the beasts themselves seemed shocked by the intensity of the fight.

*****

Whisperroot Stag

Uncommon

Level 11

Type: Thunder-type beast

*****

Starvein Panther

Rare

Level 10

Type: Earth Stalker-type beast

*****

Theo stared at their levels and realized something: they were both at levels that had taken him months to reach.

The panther, having closed the distance, tried to slash at the stag’s leg with its brownish claws, only for the stag to respond with a quick kick instead.

Yet the panther twisted its body with incredible flexibility in such a way that its leg passed really close, but it still wasn’t close enough to hit it.

Electric currents began gathering around the stag’s antlers once again, but before it could unleash another zap, the panther raised its paw.

Its claws had turned a deep brown, almost as if they were made from soil.

The next moment, the stag’s antlers, which had been gathering electricity, were instantly coated in solid rock, sealing the lightning within them.

The electric charge vanished completely.

Theo couldn’t help but think this wasn’t the first time the panther had done something like that. The move showed a level of intelligence he hadn’t expected to see in a beast, much less here.

Just when the stag began to panic and started striking wildly at anything that came close to it, the panther maneuvered smoothly around its legs and slipped beneath its body in seconds.

The panther lifted its paw again.

One of the stag’s hind legs was suddenly encased in rock, fixing him firmly to the ground.

The stag didn’t realize it in time and immediately lost its footing.

It didn’t even take more than a few seconds for it to try to get up, but that small timeframe was enough.

Enough for the panther to jump on the stag’s back.

It bit down hard on the stag’s neck while also digging its claws into its body to stabilize itself.

The stag thrashed around wildly, galloping and kicking its hind legs high in the air as much as it could, showing just how far its reach could extend if need be.

But the panther refused to budge.

Then the stag suddenly collapsed forward on its feet.

Before the panther could even react or jump off it, the stag’s massive body had already pinned it to the ground, immobilizing it.

"It seems you really are a lucky charm, Theo."

Theo turned toward Lucien and saw the same crazy grin that seemed to run in the family.

It seemed Lucien had just used him for gaining something without him even knowing about it.