Chapter 202: Mantis’s Evolution (1)- The Baron’s left hand
Till the next day, Theo saw the hardworking ants move all of their stuff inside the block of material on the trolley.
They had made a tunnel soon enough, and while Theo couldn’t look at the inside anymore, he knew they had dug a lot of chambers by now, seeing how much stuff they were taking inside by now.
The first to go were the brood, and then the material. When Theo saw those small ones wiggle around, he couldn’t help but feel warm. It was too cute for him.
By the end of the second day, they had taken everything out of the last terrarium and finally fully abandoned it.
Theo didn’t see a lot of them from then on, as he had specified to the ant queen that they couldn’t move around the whole area aside from the block, as dangers were everywhere.
He had to say that, as making the ant queen feel a threat from the room was necessary.
And he had seen that not a single ant got out of the new colony without being asked.
Only after he finally got out of their face and started thinking did things start sinking in.
There was no way for the ants to defeat the beasts that the mantis had started fighting from the start.
He wanted to get a rat so he could see their level of strength against a non-insect, but other than that, there was nothing he could make them fight. Not a single thing.
The more Theo thought, the less things made sense, but he knew how big of an opportunity it could get.
So he steeled his will and decided to help the ants first level up and evolve once before anything else could be done.
The next few days went by in making the mantis fight in the forest to loosen up, Theo training with Rhys, which had now fully started, and then the leveling up of the ants.
"8 ants are level 1 now, the rest are nearing it, and there are 4 that are going to reach level 2 soon... I would say this is fast, right?"
Theo was sitting on his usual chair with a bored expression, while Elias was getting the tea ready.
"I am not sure anymore, young master. This is far beyond my expertise."
Theo looked at him and just nodded. There had been many times since Clara and Elias had said that, now for the ants.
The case was so unique, and Theo even tried looking up in the books of insects that he had and then the specific ones. There was unusually nothing about it.
And that made Theo feel a little suspicious. In the last 1000 years, he couldn’t believe that no one was able to achieve or will to achieve a taming bond between ant queens and humans.
It was highly unusual no matter how much he thought about it.
"When are we leaving?" Theo spoke with a tense tone. Elias also looked serious when he asked that.
"Your father will be ready in 30 minutes, we will be leaving in the same carriage..." Elias spoke, making Theo nod.
"Have you brought what I asked?" he asked, and Elias nodded before pointing at a small metal box on the chair in the corner. Theo grinned after looking at it. It was about time the mantis evolved.
Today was also the day the Baron had finally told Theo that he wanted to look at the mantis fight. And it was not even in any of the castle’s rooms but the forest itself.
Apparently, he was still taking some days off as an excuse for being injured while he was not, so he had the time to finally do this.
Theo waited for the 30 minutes, and when the head butler came to inform them, Theo moved out. He was wearing the lesser dragon leather armor properly.
They all went outside the castle, and Theo saw Warren with an expression as similar to him shitting his pants.
He chuckled seeing that lazy man who was pretending to be very active when the baron was near.
Right at the side, there was the baron and the knight he had been with for some time now, Sir Rhys.
But to the baron’s left, there was a woman wearing not a metal armor as Rhys but a leather one. It was quite revealing, and Theo didn’t realize there was a person like this around here.
He soon came close, and that was when he saw the curvy ab lines at the stomach of the woman. She was more athletic than him.
When he looked up at her face, she was already looking at him with a smile, and Theo went to his innocent face right away. Perks of being a child.
"Good morning, father." Theo came close to the baron and halted in front of him. He bowed while saying this, and that was when the baron clicked his tongue.
"That is not how family meets, Theo. You ought to know that." The baron spoke before moving and lowering before hugging Theo tightly.
Theo froze. It had been a while since the baron had hugged him. And it only meant that he was in a very good and loving mood.
The sheer size of the baron made Theo disappear, but there was this warm feeling too, and he grabbed the baron tightly too before moving away.
Theo looked at Rhys and nodded in respect with a smile too.
Rhys was as sleepy as always, yet there was a difference between Warren and him. Rhys looked lazy, but he really wasn’t, while Warren looked sleepy but at the same time was lazy at the same level.
"You know Rhys, and now I want to introduce you to Ithira." The baron spoke, and Ithira walked forward toward Theo and gave a courteous greeting.
"It is an honour to meet you, young master Theo. I have heard a lot of great things about you."
"It’s nothing special, Miss Ithira."
"Please, call me Ithira."
"Yes, Ithira, it’s nice to meet you too."
From the sideline, the baron elbowed Rhys, who kept a hand at it in pain. For a second, all his sleepiness went away.
"See how my son talks with women? He’s a natural. As expected of my son." He said in a whisper, yet that burly voice couldn’t make it low enough.
Theo’s eyebrow twitched, but he didn’t react. There was a new person with them today.
Ithira giggled, and while Theo found her very beautiful, he could see beyond those eyes. She didn’t seem like a normal woman. Not when she was with his father. But her aura itself said things, just like with Rhys.
"She was the one that took care of the Velthorne bastards. It was a piece of cake for her, isn’t that right?" The baron spoke in a proud tone.
"It was nothing major, those rising star individuals were just rookies at the end of the day. Making them disappear was an easy task."
"..." Theo and Elias froze when she said that. The baron looked at Theo with a smirk.
"What? You didn’t believe me when I said I would take care of those bastards? I can’t destroy the Velthorne bastards, as they are still a baron family; the king will nag me again. But I sure can break apart their investment." The baron spoke in a prideful tone as if happy with himself.
Theo looked at him with a somewhat lost gaze. He said two things that stuck to him like some conspiracy theories.
First was obviously how the king would nag him ’again’. Had he done this before? The more Theo thought, the more it felt like there was so little he knew about his father. The baron that was known to be considered more than the baron many times, but is still a baron.
"Theo? Let’s go. Even Elias has finished his introduction." The baron spoke while patting Theo’s back.
Theo nodded and entered the carriage, where the baron and Theo sat on one side while the other three sat on the other.
It was quiet for a while before the baron finally broke the silence.
"Why don’t you put your beast in the beast space?" The baron asked while pointing at the small box in Theo’s hand.
"Oh, the mantis is already in my beast space. It only comes out when it’s time to hunt or eat." Theo spoke with a chuckle.
"This is just an ingredient for something I will start after this hunt. I would like to have you as an observer in it, Father." Theo stated, making the baron’s eyebrows go up in understanding.
"I can’t wait for it. Let’s see what your beast is made of. To let you reach level 5 and break through it at the age of 9, and with no help from your family..." The baron spoke and went in thought.
To think about it, Theo really had done everything on his own. Aside from the benefits one gets from being born as a noble.
"I would like to know how you did it too, young master. It’s so unusual to see an insect at level 5. Could you show it to me? Only for a few seconds please?" The woman asked in a cute manner, but it made Theo feel like she was trying to change her voice to talk with a child.
His eyebrows twitched, and soon, a light flashed from his head.