Insect Tamer's Ascension-Chapter 396. The cocoon opened! (1)

Theo didn’t hesitate even a bit.

He pushed all of his aura into the sword, making it glow.

His progress with it had come to the point where he only had to think about it, and the aura would automatically get inside the sword, and it would flow into the blade within seconds.

When Rhys saw the aura, his eyes squinted slightly, which somehow made him look like he was already asleep.

His wooden sword began flickering with aura as well.

Theo watched as the aura around Rhys surged out like a flame, completely dominating his own. But gradually, it began to diminish, shrinking and shrinking until what was left was an aura that was very similar to Theo’s.

"You can start attacking now, young master," Rhys said casually, making Theo snap out of his thoughts and move forward.

’Unlike him, my aura isn’t in large enough to keep the sword coated for hours... maybe 5 minutes at most,’ Theo thoughts and thrust his sword forward

The two auras matched together after they hit each other once.

For a moment, Theo felt like Rhys wasn’t using much strength.

Then, his sword began melting Theo’s at the point where they had come in contact.

Theo quickly pulled back and looked at his wooden sword, specifically at the chip Rhys had carved into it.

"I suppose the level of aura always matters," Rhys said as he withdrew his aura.

"My aura is a lot more dense, so no matter how much I try to suppress it, it will always be superior."

He looked back at Theo.

"So I want you to go all out with one of your strikes instead of prolonging this fight."

Theo thought for a few seconds before nodding. There was no real way for this fight to be fair when aura was involved.

If Theo had used his aura and Rhys didn’t, then his wooden sword would have sliced Rhys’ sword in half.

And if Rhys went with the aura too, then Theo’s sword would melt as well, since both were using the same material.

It made Theo wonder what happened on real battlefields. If someone with an overwhelmingly superior aura entered the fight, then all the average and weaker ones wouldn’t be able to do anything but get cut down.

With that thought, Theo lunged forward with all his might.

The sword flickered a few times before bursting into a blazing aura, as if a burner had just been switched on.

Theo knew this wouldn’t last, so he ran forward.

Rhys’s aura flared back to life, and he raised his sword blade out vertically to defend it.

Theo struck with everything he had. The clash rang out with a sharp metallic bang. He pushed forward harder than what he ever had before.

All the frustration of things not going his way surged out of him, and soon, his aura intensified.

Theo roared in one final attempt, loud enough that everyone in the corridors turned their heads in his direction in curiosity.

Before he could even realize it, the fight had already become a spectacle.

Yet within ten seconds, his sword was cut clean in half as his aura was exhausted right away.

Theo dropped to one knee, breathing heavily. Rhys looked at him for a moment before letting his own aura fade.

"Are you satisfied now?" Rhys asked with a sleepy face. But in his eyes there was something else... a sense of pride which Theo could immediately recognize.

Theo took a deep breath and accepted Rhys’ hand to get up.

When he looked around at the now-empty training grounds and then back at Rhys, he felt like his heart had finally calmed down a bit.

"Thank you, Sir Knight," he said. "I should really go back to my mantis now. Maybe it woke up."

Theo then began stepping back.

The broken sword lay on the ground, and Rhys picked it up.

He examined the spot where it had been cut and smiled.

If it had been his aura alone, the blade would have been sliced clean in seconds. But Theo had poured in so much of his own aura into the strike, purely driven by frustration, that the cut showed resistance.

It was as if the blade had been stopped several times before finally giving way and getting cut.

Rhys watched as Theo ran toward the castle, feeling something he could only describe as curiosity.

Just like many others, he was curious as to what Theo might become with a little more time and a little more training.

_____

Theo ran back to his room.

Both of his attendants were reading the academy books, just as he had told them to do. They immediately stood up respectfully when he entered.

But Theo simply walked past them, toward the corner of the room.

There, in the middle of the corner, attached to the wall, was a cocoon-like structure.

Theo felt like it had already been a long time since the mantis had entered that stage.

But during all this time, something else had happened about the cocoon, making everyone feel uneasy and be on their toes, everyone except Theo.

Even the baron felt something ominous when looking at it.

The cocoon, which should have been much, much smaller, had now grown to nearly half as big as Theo’s body size.

When he stepped closer, while he couldn’t see anything inside, Theo placed his hand on it.

The exterior had hardened like a rock since it had solidified. Yet only a few days ago, it had been all slimy and expanding, which made the attendants keep their distance from it.

’The slimes have been trying to get to you while you evolve, Mantis. Come back soon and have some treats.’ Theo spoke through the bond, but no reply came.

Instead, he saw a silhouette coming toward him in the bond; it was the ant queen, who was trying to console him.

Theo eventually returned to checking what was going on with the two new ant queens and then continued with his own studies, which he had recently begun.

That night, he slept as he had every night since the mantis entered its cocoon, waking up every few hours.

Two more days passed with the same routine, as Theo tried to stabilize everything he had started.

Then one night, while he was asleep, the cocoon in the corner let out a faint creaking sound.

Theo was so sleep-deprived that he didn’t notice anything.

Not until a large foreleg suddenly burst through the stone-like shell of the cocoon... 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

...and a chunk of it flew across the room and smacked directly into Theo’s face, waking him up.