Complete silence lingered inside the hut for a while. Theo looked out through the doorway, lost in thought.
Elias glanced at Clara with perplexed emotions. This didn’t feel like the right mont for sothing like this, no matter how good their relationship was.
"I suppose we are past the point where you need to be my attendants," Theo said at last, his voice and heart feeling heavy.
Clara looked at him, surprise flashing across her face, which quickly turned into dumbfoundedness. She had prepared herself for anything, but nothing could have prepared her for this.
Elias remained silent, looking at Theo, sensing how deeply he was thinking.
"But is it really necessary for you to stay as my attendants?" Theo asked again.
A still silence stretched on while Clara was still reeling from his previous words.
"Clara," Theo called, snapping her back from her daze.
"Yes, young master?" she replied. Her answer made Theo turn to her with a serious expression.
"Is it necessary for you to stay as my attendants? Aren’t we past that by now?" A gentle smile appeared on his face.
Clara and Elias stared at him blankly, completely at loss for words.
"We have been through so much together. In the Whispering Forests, in the academy, and now in the gate, and we are still together," Theo spoke.
"To , you are more than attendants now. That’s just a job title. You have beco my people. My party."
"And I know you’re both okay with doing this since you even ca to the gate just to help ."
"Young master..." Clara murmured.
"So, I ask both of you to stop thinking that you can’t protect or anything like that. The three of us are growing together. You two are nearing level 10 while I might surpass it soon. I need you both beside while we are still figuring things out along the way."
As he finished speaking, Clara suddenly burst into giggles.
"I can’t believe I was being so dramatic, young master," she said with a bright smile. And the previously absent pride in her eyes returned. "You have to forgive for this."
"No worries, I am already used to it by now." Theo replied with a grin, making her eyebrow twitch, and Elias, who couldn’t hold it in anymore, burst out laughing.
The mood lightened considerably, and Theo decided it was ti to return to their routine.
"Where is that crawler of ours now?" he asked, then reached out again through the bond.
The mont he did, the ant queen imdiately responded, sending images of the creature perched beside them on a thick branch high up in the tree.
"Heh. It got so scared that it ran off and hid itself above the tree. I will go get it." Theo said as he stood up.
As he reached the door, he paused and glanced back once again.
"Don’t think this much. We don’t have ti for that. We need to grow stronger, and quickly." Theo said, prompting a nod from both of them.
"Oh, and young master," Clara added, making Theo raise an eyebrow in curiosity.
"We still haven’t talked about why, in the artifact’s na, did you jump straight inside that beast’s mouth?" she asked with a strange smile on her face, her eyes tightened into a line.
A shiver ran down Theo’s spine seeing that smile. He smiled back and said nothing before briskly stepping out of the hut.
Outside, he spotted a certain soone standing near the mouth of the dead monarch.
The mantis was looking in his direction. But as he looked through their bond, Theo could feel its anxiety, an urge to return to him.
’You glutton. You think I am still angry?’ Theo said through their bond as he stepped closer and offered his hand.
The mantis stared at it for a mont, then hopped on.
It sent a wave of apologetic emotions through their bond, making Theo shake his head.
’I guess you’re learning to be dramatic too,’ he thought before gently patting its small head.
’I want you to go as wild as you normally do, but along with that, I also want you to be safe. Do you understand?’ Theo asked the mantis only to get responded to with the emotions he wanted from it, which imdiately received a nod from him.
’Good. Now you can go and play again. If you are in any danger, run back to . If there is any danger to , run back to . Alright?’
The mantis was like a yes man right now and agreed instantly; no matter what Theo said, it replied with ’yes’ emotions right away as if feeling guilty.
And Theo decided to use that for its own good.
He moved closer to the monarch’s massive mouth and stared at it with a blank mind.
’This shit could have been the end of today... I was way too rash with my decision, jumping into its mouth like that...’ he thought, eyeing the range of big and jagged teeth.
If the beast had snapped its mouth shut when he was halfway in, he would have been split in two.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, Theo noticed a silhouette moving near one of the teeth, making him frown.
He crouched down to take a closer look only to jump back up in surprise right away.
"That’s an ant! WOAHH!" Theo shouted with all he had; his heart was genuinely swelling with happiness as he watched the little guy getting out of the mouth after being swallowed.
The ant queen responded with images through their connection, making Theo feel even more optimistic.
The ants that ca out from the monarch’s body were all wet and sticky, but they were still persistent enough to take big steps and get outside.
’Thousands of them were eaten when this thing swallowed entire chambers... how many of them are still alive, Ant Queen?’ Theo asked.
The ant queen responded with emotions which made Theo suck in a deep breath.
’Enter the hive link, huh... risky move right now, especially since there is nothing to protect right now,’ Theo spoke through their bond, unaware that the mantis could still hear them.
’Oh? You will protect ? Then I guess I can go right away!’ Theo spoke with pride.
And with that, he stepped in.
He needed to give the mantis so responsibility to make it realize that he wasn’t angry at it anymore, and this felt like the perfect opportunity.
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