Chapter 290: Chapter 290: Fighting alongside Mantis- What could go wrong?

With the additional boost in EXP due to the mantis being brave enough to attack the big worm.

Theo was able to get to level six faster. The mantis was already close, but not only did it reach it, but Theo did too.

The next full day went to the repetitive grind for level 7.

The experience needs were high, and even Clara and Elias felt it to be a hard thing to do.

In all this grind, it was Theo who noted it for the first time. It was hard for Elias to keep himself safe.

The ape had to stay very close to him in order to protect him when it was needed.

It came to the point that Elias had to give orders through the safe zone of the baron’s aura in order to function properly.

This made him realize the problem in his journey as a tamer. Whenever Elias looked at Theo and Clara, it made him realize the mistake he made just because he wanted to take the normal route of a tamer.

Clara was having the time of her life. It was the very first time she outshined everyone in that area, even Theo.

She didn’t attack the crawlers normally but instead threw her daggers right at them one after another. Theo had a count of how many she had, and the number had gone to twenty before he had to start again.

The one thing that was most astounding was her aim. If she threw ten consecutive knives at the crawlers, eight of them hit the beasts.

Theo tried it too, as it was the first-ever skill Clara had taught him, but shifted back to his longsword again.

His aim was good, but not good enough to kill countless crawlers coming at them.

As time passed, and Theo and the others were already at a quarter of the experience points for level seven,

Theo had another realization that made him stop and go to the safe zone to think about it.

When Clara realized something was wrong, she too went back, leaving the boar and the pup fending for themselves.

"So that’s how it is... You got an evolution opportunity for yourself this time..." Clara spoke after she listened to the full story by Theo.

Theo only nodded and went into thought again, yet there was now someone there to brainstorm with him.

"I have this feeling, Clara..." he spoke. "If I get that evolution option, my spatial sense will get better than the others... But more than that... it makes me wonder if I will be able to fight alongside the mantis this time," he explained with a heavy voice.

Clara’s eyes widened for a moment before going back to normal.

"... Are you sure you want to try that again? You remember the previous time you tried it..."

"I remember," Theo spoke right away. "That is why I am contemplating it right now. Keeping up with the mantis... is hard," Theo spoke while he looked at the notifications popping one after another.

"Before I even realized it, the mantis had already become a killing machine... but maybe I should try this one more time? I should not forget my goal even though it’s hard," Theo said and got up.

Clara was concerned. She remembered the last time Theo had tried and blatantly failed it so many times. It was the main reason Theo was excited for the academy, because that was the one thing the mantis didn’t like doing with Theo. He wanted to learn how to get the mantis to be comfortable with this.

It had the problem of competing with Theo and fought a lot more aggressively, which was good, but all those heavy attacks always made Theo stop before he even got injured by it.

That was something he wasn’t able to get out of the mantis, even though it had come a long way now.

"I am a lot better with my commands now. I placed a lot of extra points in its intelligence too..." His voice trailed off as if he was talking with himself now.

"I will do it," Theo said with resolve, making Clara take a deep breath.

"..."

She wanted to say that it was dangerous, that she wouldn’t be available to protect him when she wasn’t even able to overpower all these crawlers yet.

It made Theo realize that promise she made to him long ago too, that she would become his shield.

The same resolve flashed inside both their eyes, and when they looked at each other, there was a confident smile on their faces, as if both were rooting for each other.

Elias was no less. His mind was moving like a mad person right now. A decision needed to be made about his future, and it had to be done right now or never.

Theo moved to the edge of the safe zone and looked toward the far front.

There were multiple piles of crawlers all around the area. Every few seconds, there was either a spray that everyone could see or a white flashing light.

’Mantis, come back right now.’ Theo spoke in a domineering command, making the mantis halt within moments.

A crawler came and attacked it from the side, yet it dodged without any problem and became a flashing light again, cutting two of the nearby crawler heads too before starting to move past all the corpses.

It took it minutes to come back to Theo and start climbing up to his shoulder.

When it was right there, Theo looked at it with a smile.

’We are going to fight together. Stay with me.’ Theo spoke. He didn’t have a big plan right now. His motive was to first feel what fighting alongside it would be like,

And the problems that may arise due to it.

The mantis’s face moved to Theo. There was an unknown emotion on it.

Its foreleg went to his face and tapped it once to get attention.

When Theo moved his gaze to it, he was surprised for a moment, but then a relieved smile formed on his face.

The mantis had made its fighting stance just like in the older times.