Insect Tamer's Ascension-Chapter 44 - . I think we can retire from defeating slimes now
"You're already up, Young Master? I opened the door right away thinking you were still asleep, my apologies." Clara bowed to show her remorse before she continued, "But I guess it's great you are awake… I bear news."
"Tell me," Theo couldn't wait and sat on the bed with a hop. Clara came forward, her face was serious, and there was no former warmth there for now.
"There is a noble gathering in five days, Young Master. All the attendants were told to get the heirs ready for it. The Baroness is very busy making arrangements right now, so she won't be able to meet you for now."
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Theo looked at the situation with surprise. A noble gathering? And the Merrick heirs were attending it?
"Why are we attending this one?" Theo asked with a frown. This was going to make things more complicated than usual.
"The thing is, the Merrick Barony ignored too many gatherings the past year, so it is compulsory for everyone, including the Baron, to attend this one, Young Master."
"Father too?" Theo blurted with astonishment. "If it was a normal scenario, it would have been interesting to go, but you know everything already, Clara," he said with a grave expression.
"I think the Baron has not talked with the Baroness about your situation yet, Young Master. And I feel as if the head butler could be here any moment now. He would bear the news as to what you have to do."
"My level is already 2, so everyone will ask what beast I tamed. I reckon many of the other heirs will bring and flaunt their beasts in the gathering."
"Oh, don't worry about that, Young Master. Everyone below level 5 is not permitted to bring their beasts with them to the gathering. It's a rule; they don't want to take the risk of some inexperienced tamer not being able to control their beasts in the gathering. So you will be safe in that aspect."
"That is nice to hear.... Maybe this gathering is not such a bad thing. They will know that the youngest son of the Merricks is level 2 already. My father will be so happy to see their faces." Theo almost felt the same wild grin creep over his face that everyone saw on their father.
Clara realized it too and chuckled. Sometimes, it was easy to form habits just by looking at someone do it every time.
"So I guess we just have to wait five days and go to the gathering. Nothing more to it than that. I am thinking of doing something different today, Clara."
"What is it, Young Master?"
"I think it's time we defeat some vipers, but I guess there is still a need to try defeating the level 4 moss slimes," Theo stated in a thoughtful manner.
"The Thornhide Vipers… they are quite a bump in difficulty compared to the slimes, Young Master. Are you sure about this?" Clara asked with a perplexed emotion. It didn't feel like she was saying no outright, which Theo was expecting.
"How far is the viper territory from the moss slimes?"
"Quite far on foot, but fortunately, it's just an extra half-hour with a carriage."
"Perfect! And I guess I can leave my protection to you?" Theo asked with a smile.
"Absolutely!" Clara exclaimed with a serious face, making Theo laugh.
"I will get the mantis from in there."
"Yes…" Clara whistled and went to clean some desks that were already clean.
Theo shook his head and went in there. He saw the mantis was still in the same state, and a frown formed on his face on its own.
"I don't know when you slept in the night, but it is time we leave to train, Mantis," Theo stated and then made some mental commands too.
The mantis's body twitched, unlike just the hind, and it moved upright slowly.
After a few seconds, it looked at Theo, who had his hand inside the terrarium.
The mantis looked around, and seeing that there was no food but a lot of remains of what it had eaten, it quickly moved and jumped on Theo's hand.
'We will be fighting something different if you defeat the stronger slime today, Mantis.' Theo gave another mental command, and the mantis just looked at him with unknown emotions.
Yet soon, it went into its fighting stance, making Theo sure that it was ready.
Theo and Clara made some preparations, and when they were ready, they quickly traveled in the same carriage and reached the slime's territory.
"Happy hunting, Young Master," the carriage operator said from the seat, a smile on his face.
"Thanks, Clive. We will be back soon enough."
"Oh, don't worry about that. I will wait a whole day if need be," the man said and bid farewell.
As usual, the routine followed, and the pup moved to find some slimes.
In a few minutes, Clara started directing Theo to the location while Theo was being protected by the boar.
When they reached the clearing, Theo saw many slimes hopping around and eating all kinds of vegetation.
He inspected them all and frowned.
"Only level 1?"
"It seems so, Young Master. Don't worry, we will find a level 4 soon."
The pup went to work again, and Theo didn't even care about tackling the level 1 slimes.
Not only would they take precious time, but also give a penalty of levels after getting defeated.
A few minutes later, they all traveled again and reached another clearing where there were no level 4s again.
After traveling to one more clearing with nothing so far, Theo stopped, and Clara sighed.
"This is a problem with low-level territories, Young Master. Many come and defeat these monsters without giving the forest time to heal… We can still try finding the level 4 though, Young Master," Clara stated in a dejected yet also frustrated tone. It seemed like it was something she had experienced many times before.
"No, that's alright. I think we can retire from defeating the slimes now."
