Chapter 205: Crimson red foreleg
"When the mantis took another big bite off the poison sac, a shiver went down Theo’s body.
He did have the antidote with him, but when would he know that the mantis was in danger? There was no communication like that between them.
The others couldn’t even tell Theo’s anxiety as they too looked at the mantis eating poison with awe.
"From what I know... your beast doesn’t have poison affinity, right? No, even with poison affinity, to eat this much poison is just plain suicide. What do you think you’re doing?" The baron asked with a frown.
Theo took a deep breath to calm his nerves, his eyes fixed on the requirements all the time, waiting to see if they were completed or not.
"It’s among the processes, so I left consuming for the last, with how dangerous it is, Father. But this was a necessity. Don’t worry, nothing will happen to it." Theo stated out loud, yet his tone did not seem sure.
The baron only looked at Theo and then moved closer before keeping his big hand on Theo’s shoulder.
Everyone saw the mantis keep eating the poison sac until a quarter of it was gone.
Theo could even see the mantis drinking the poison on the inner lining of the sac, which made him worry more.
After five minutes of just observation, the mantis stopped at the halfway mark. The sac was fully punctured and was now like a semi-circle. The mantis had eaten it so proficiently that there was next to no stain left on the dry ground.
Until finally, the mantis started shivering.
The baron focused further to see what it was doing, but when he realized the insect was just shivering out of nowhere, he looked at Theo.
Yet Theo had a slightly satisfied and relieved expression on his face.
"It will begin soon." Theo spoke after confirming the ’tick’ on the mantis’s evolution screen.
Before they knew it, the mantis dragged itself close to the poison sac. It lifted the newly made bug mouth of the sac up with its forelegs and directly entered it.
Theo saw it wiggle inside further before the sac closed again, leaving only a twitching bulge in the middle.
"I have no clue what’s happening, young master. Can you please clarify this confusion please?" Ithira spoke with a horrified expression.
"Explaining it is a really tough task. But the moment you see what will happen, you’ll know what it is."
Theo moved the baron’s hand gently and went to sit near a tree trunk, "This may take some time, so please make yourself comfortable." Theo spoke.
Everyone looked at each other before the baron came and sat cross-legged on the ground beside him with a loud thud.
It made Theo realize just how big the baron was.
They waited like this for as long as it took, and only after another twenty minutes did Theo feel something.
Yet those twenty minutes were so nerve-racking for Theo, he felt nostalgic for the first evolution that happened.
Even then, the mantis had covered itself magically with the slimy body of the slimes.
That was the reason he had stayed so quiet for twenty minutes, but still, the fear factor was there.
But now, Theo saw a lot of movement inside the pouch of the sac, and he got up to get closer.
’You can do this, mantis. Just a little more... I don’t know if you’re in pain right now, but... please come back safe.’ Theo thought with a pained heart. He didn’t know if all this movement was it wiggling in pain or not.
"!"
The pouch of the sac started inflating out of nowhere until it formed a bubble of sorts.
The baron quickly pulled Theo by the arm to protect him; everyone knew if the bubble popped, the poison could go anywhere, including Theo’s face.
Theo looked at it for a moment before he observed something. The color of the sac was getting duller and duller until it almost felt like it was dry now.
The bubble didn’t seem delicate by any means, but nobody was going to test its strength.
Rhys, who would have been asleep or with his eyes closed by now, looked at the blob of crimson color with wide eyes.
"There is a lot of energy in that thing, young master. Beasts will definitely come to check it out..." Rhys spoke.
Theo felt nostalgia in that comment.
"The previous evolution happened in the slime territory, and a lot of slimes came toward us if I remember correctly."
Rhys nodded after realizing it was going to happen.
"The energy was not that high before. It only started happening about half a minute ago. I have never seen something like this. The last similar thing was the opening of a dragon egg. But the energy level of that was 100 times stronger than this one." The baron explained with thoughtfulness.
Theo opened the status of the mantis again to make sure there were no status effects like poisoning on him.
But he froze completely.
’I-It’s done?’ he thought.
In the name of the mantis, Theo could now see a new one.
Bloodbloom Mantis
Theo went close to the blob and spoke, "Mantis, you can come out now, it’s over. The evolution is complete." Theo spoke out loud, not caring if the others were listening in.
There was no response for many seconds, and Theo kept speaking for it to come back.
Until he saw something puncture the bloated poison sac and come out.
His eyes widened when he saw the familiar foreleg of the mantis, only it was now crimson red in color.
Yet that was not the only thing Theo observed; it was also the blatant size increase of the foreleg.
It almost felt like it could be as big as half his palm and his tallest finger together.
It was not until the foreleg tore open the sac cleanly in one go that everyone saw the being that came out of it.
"What in the actual—"