"Young master, please don't move on your own." Clara wanted to shout but couldn't in the forest with dangers hiding everywhere.
"Clara, with your ability, you can take care of the other slis if they are nearby. I will go fight this one. Don't worry." Theo stated hurriedly before he moved even further.
The boar seed to snort at Theo's actions, and Clara seed to be at a loss for words.
But in the end, she could only sigh and move forward toward Theo without having the report from the direwolf cub.
Theo was now only about ten steps away from the sli, and it was at that mont that the sli seed to notice his presence.
"Here you go, brat." Theo quickly placed the mantis on the ground.
The mantis's eyes never left the sli, and the sli itself started to slowly crawl toward it.
'Iron Mantis, ready to attack,' Theo gave a ntal command, and the mantis changed its posture to a fighting stance. The grayish glow on its body dimd as a little light passed through the dense forest.
The Iron Mantis moved its body back while its legs stayed steady on the uneven ground of the forest, just like in every other attack before.
'tallic Strike,' Theo commanded, making the mantis's head twitch to the side. Its body jumped forward, and all Theo could see was a blur.
Yet Clara, with her keen eyes, saw the speed of the mantis with shock. At one mont, the mantis was near Theo, and in the next, it was already inches away from the sli.
The sli itself didn't seem to realize what had transpired in front of it.
When Theo saw the mantis again, its foreleg was already inside the sli's body.
Theo wanted to celebrate, yet before he could, realization ca.
'Is it stuck?' He thought with a frown.
The Iron Mantis's foreleg was inches away from the core of the sli, yet it couldn't seem to move anymore.
It swung its other foreleg into the air above and then down toward the sli with strength—only for that one to slip inside the sli too.
Just when Theo was about to sprint toward the mantis to save it, Clara grabbed him by the arm.
"What is the aning of this? Let go, Clara!" Theo exclaid urgently. Losing the mantis like this would be a huge disadvantage and loss.
"Like I said, young master. You can't leave my side, not even once. And certainly not to rush toward a wild beast capable of devouring you whole." Clara said with cold eyes.
Theo seed to realize then again that Clara was not his babysitter, but an attendant whose priority was tending to him and protection.
He looked at the mantis again, which seed to struggle to get its forelegs out of the sli.
"Mantis, get out!" Theo spoke aloud, yet it didn't seem like the mantis understood.
He gritted his teeth in frustration, and when the sli started to elongate toward the mantis, it was the last nail in the coffin.
"Clara, help the Iron Mantis survive." Theo said with urgency.
"Are you sure, young master? If it can't defeat the sli, it won't be able to defeat anything." Clara spoke before making the boar take a few steps forward.
"Save it," Theo was adamant. His concerned eyes shifted to shock when the Iron Mantis's whole body was engulfed inside the sli.
Clara sighed, and the boar started moving toward the sli very slowly.
Theo wanted it to go faster, but another thought popped into his mind.
'Is it still worth it?'
The Iron Mantis might have been strong, but in a world where there were turtles as huge as a mountain and dragons that could turn anything into ashes with their breath.
What could the mantis do? Even after leveling up?
'Get out of the sli or kill it, Iron Mantis.' He commanded, trying to get his mind away from negativity.
The boar was now very near the sli, and it lifted its leg, preparing to squash the sli under its foot as if it were nothing more than a bug.
Yet, sothing stirred inside the sli for a second, catching Theo's attention.
"Wait! Pull the boar back, Clara!" Theo exclaid, making Clara stop the Ironclad Boar in ti.
Theo crouched down and looked at the sli with focus. The mantis was doing sothing.
'You can do it. Yes! Kill or be killed, Iron Mantis. Kill! Kill! Kill!' Theo chanted directly through his bond with the Iron Mantis.
Clara herself looked at the sli again, trying to understand what Theo was doing.
Just when she looked, she saw a light shine for a second—and the sli popped the next mont.
=====
[Iron Mantis killed a Moss Sli – Uncommon (Level 2)]
[Grade difference detected]
[Adding 25% to the base EXP]
[EXP gained: 12 25%
Distribution:
Theo rrick – 6
Iron Mantis – 9]
======
It all happened so fast that both Theo and Clara were dumbstruck, frozen in place.
Even the Ironclad Boar seed to flinch in astonishnt.
"W-Wait…" Clara muttered in disbelief, then looked toward Theo with wide, shocked eyes. "The sli popping ans the core has been destroyed… Young master."
"I know…" Theo seed as surprised as she was, if not more so, if one peeked into his heart.
He saw the silhouette of the mantis licking the sli's fluid body from its forelegs and torso.
Theo stepped forward, and Clara didn't say anything. He moved closer and reached the Iron Mantis, which stopped everything it was doing and looked at Theo with its big eyes.
'I was wrong—' Theo's eyes had the sa confidence in them again. The fine hairs on his arms seed to elongate with goosebumps.
'Getting defeated ntally so early in the ga and not trusting you is the saddest thing I have done in this life… but... never again,' His fist clenched in pride, and his eyes quivered with excitent.
The mantis didn't seem to understand anything Theo said. It simply went back to licking the dense liquid off its tallic body.
DING!
[Evolution Potential- Detected]
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