Insect Tamer's Ascension

"I will do as you say, father." Theo finally decided to agree.

The Baron nodded in satisfaction, and Lucien smiled.

"I guess our training days are over, Theo. Make sure to keep practicing what I taught you till now," Lucien stated with a light chuckle and Theo nodded, he had already learned a lot.

"Don't worry, Lucien. I will make you see this training through. It will start after we come back from the gate," the Baron said with crossed arms.

"Thank you, father and elder brother."

Theo didn't feel like he had made a bad decision. They were missions given by the Baron himself, which, according to what he said, would make him represent the Merrick name soon enough.

"Do your best, Theo. Maybe if you stay on this path for long, I will let you go to a gate that will open in an year. It's not easy but bearable for your level," the Baron explained, making Theo smile in response.

"I will do my best, father!"

"Hahahahha, now go and try acting like a child for once. You even made Bram, my sweet little boy, into a training maniac."

The Baron couldn't hold back his laughter, and Theo just looked to the side awkwardly. He was definitely the reason why Bram was taking part in training every day.

There was a competition going on between them, and fortunately, it was quite healthy.

"You all may go now, Theo. I will see you at dinner. And don't worry, your mission will be there with you by the end of this day."

Theo's eyes sparkled in awe. He nodded profusely and gave a respectful bow to the Baron and Lucien before moving toward the door.

Lucien was going to come with him, yet the Baron's voice interjected, "I have something to talk with you, Lucien."

Theo looked back once and then went outside the room with Clara. It was no place for him to stay if he wasn't asked to.

He saw the head butler's face as the door closed, and Theo gave him a serious nod. Alfred smiled warmly through the little space Theo could still see before the door completely shut.

The guards stationed outside the room may have had their heads facing forward, yet their eyes were glued to Theo. Their helmets didn't let Theo notice that.

"… That was very intense, young master," Clara said as they started moving back to their room, her shoulders drooping in exhaustion.

"I guess it's over now. I am officially not going to the gate," Theo chuckled dryly and kept moving forward.

Clara didn't reply, yet she looked at Theo with concern. The gate was never something Theo was going to achieve, yet the amount of effort he had put in was truly motivating.

Before she could say anything, Theo spoke again, "Huh, maybe it is for the best… I just hope these missions are worth it."

"T-They will be, young master. I have heard about this before—the Baron has a habit of testing his heirs before he approves of their strength." Clara said hesitantly, she was being extra sure to not hurt Theo's feelings.

"Oh? That's good."

"But from my knowledge, it didn't take place for most of them below the age of 14," Clara spoke thoughtfully.

Theo nodded. It made sense, as he had seen how Lucien was smiling when their father had told him about the mission. There was no surprise on his face.

Meanwhile, Lucien was still in the Baron's office. Aside from them, only Alfred remained in the room.

"Now that he is gone, tell me, Lucien," the Baron spoke, leaning back in his chair comfortably,

"What do you think?"

Lucien kept looking at the Baron for a few seconds.

"He is already able to deal with Moss Slimes below level 5 and the same for the Thornhide Vipers," Lucien explained, finally pulling a chair opposite the Baron's desk and sitting down.

It seemed he had been allowed to do so from the start.

"That mantis of his seems to have better intelligence than I expected. It's not only able to take Theo's advice well but also attack with good strategies on its own. I would say it is on par with a level 3 Silverfang Direwolf pup, father."

When Lucien stopped speaking, there was a proud smile on his face.

"If he can do that much, then it will only take a few months to a year for him to reach the mid-lower forest…" the Baron chuckled as he muttered.

"But there is more to it. Theo is very motivated right now, and I don't think the gate is the only main reason… There is more… and I want you to help him with it if you get the chance, Lucien."

"I had figured this out a few days ago too, father. Don't worry, I will help him with the best way possible."

But don't slack on your training ever. I may be with you in this gate, but there will still be times when I won't be able to help you."

"You'll be on your own." The Baron stopped, and Lucien just smiled confidently. It seemed risk was something the Merricks did not shy away from.

Theo went back to his room and fed some more ore to his mantis to see if another partial evolution would trigger. There was a main evolution in line right now, and Theo wanted to analyze if getting another option was possible.

If it was possible, then the point about the evolution being 'optional' would start to make more sense.

Yet nothing happened other than the mantis gulping down a kilo's worth of the ore when Theo had left him with it. With leveling and the increase in size, the mantis's eating speed was better than before.

Theo made sure not to stop his daily training. If there was no gate to go to, there were still other things he could focus on.

He took an hour to make a plan on how he would extract the silk from the silkworm efficiently. As he already knew, the silkworms here had little in common with the ones he knew from Earth.

And by the end of the day, Theo finally received a small letter with the red crest of the Baron on it.

It seemed it was finally time to start grinding some reputation too.