Insect Tamer's Ascension

At first, the viper saw all the individuals in the clearing in between its territory.

There were three humans, one boar, one Silverfang wolf pup, and a bird that was sitting at a nearby branch, looking at the viper with its face to the side and one eye.

Theo saw the viper's face move down to his pants, making him aware that it knew the mantis was there too.

And then, finally, its face moved straight, making Theo's eyes twitch.

'Did it detect the ape too?' Theo thought with surprise.

The mantis was one thing, but to feel the presence of a beast that was in no way inside the eye line and so high up on top of the tree that it would be thrice the distance between the viper and Theo right now.

Yet Theo stepped forward and moved sideways; his sword was still facing the viper.

The viper's eyes got fixed on Theo, who was coming closer through the side, yet closer every single step.

Theo didn't bat an eye away from the viper, and when he saw it a little from up close, his eyes twitched for a moment.

'Are they scars?' he thought, looking at the viper's lower body. Multiple white lines that should have been foreign to the Thornhide Viper's body.

Theo's perspective changed a little. When before he was focused, now all he could see was the viper and nothing else.

The viper's hard tail's end came near its face and moved left and right like a whip.

It was warning Theo to make distance, and a light hissing sound left its mouth. Its tongue was really long, and whenever it came out, it went really far down the mouth.

'Spore Lash to the face, mantis,' Theo gave a quick command, making the mantis hop.

The viper's gaze flinched, and its body moved upward while looking at the mantis briskly toward it.

"HAGH!" Theo gave a light shout, getting back the attention of the viper, and this time started taking steps that were straight toward the viper, not sideways.

The viper looked up and down multiple times; two enemies were approaching it with different speeds right now.

Yet it still didn't move. Theo could guess why it wasn't moving—there were so many creatures inside the clearing that if it came any closer, then the chances of being attacked by many at once were high.

The vipers were always high in intellect, which was at least better than the boars.

That was why Theo kept coming closer to the viper until finally he decided to start.

With a deep breath, Theo took two unpredictably long steps toward the viper, making its upper body go back. Its tail was still at the same pace, moving left and right even faster now.

When Theo was finally dangerously close to the viper, both Elias and Clara were sweating bullets.

This was unlike the level 7 boars—they knew just how fast and one-hit-ending the higher-level vipers could be. Yet they only decided to move if the situation worsened.

Theo slashed his sword forward, making the viper move its body. It was analyzing a lot more than he had thought.

Even when he was nearing every step, the viper wasn't attacking but looking at him with vigilance.

'Do it any time now, mantis,' Theo gave a command and moved further.

When he was close enough to slash the viper's body with an extended arm, Theo did just that.

He slashed forward, and before he could even hit the body of the viper, its tail moved at a horrendously high speed and smacked the sword away.

CLANG!

A sound erupted when the rocky skin of the viper hit the sword.

Theo felt a tug at his shoulder and groaned a little, yet he moved the sword right away to try cutting that tail.

Yet the second try, too, was whipped away by the tail.

Theo's eyes twitched in frustration when he saw the viper just stare at the mantis that was now latched onto its body.

"I am right here!"

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG!

Theo kept hitting forward, engaging the tail of the viper in order to give the mantis a chance.

But as if the viper was just playing, it kept tackling each of the attacks with its tail without even looking—as if the tail was actually on autopilot.

The viper's head moved up, making the body stretch up, and soon, it curved its head down closer to where the mantis was right now.

Hisssss!

With an angry hiss, the viper moved its face close to the mantis with an open mouth.

'NOW!' Theo shouted in his head, and the mantis smacked both its forelegs together before it was too late.

Spores erupted out of them right away, making the snake's head flinch back, yet the deed was already done.

The viper jerked its face a few times before its eyes went bright red and its face tumbled to the ground.

Theo took the opportunity and tightened his whole body, and with his hips tight in one place, he slashed the sword forward to cut the tail for good this time.

CLANGG!!!

"Tsk." Theo became a lot more frustrated this time. The tail not only didn't look any injured, it also made the viper get back up again.

'Metallic Strike, right now,' Theo stated with a grim mood.

The mantis obliged right away, becoming a blur.

And before the viper could even do anything, its circular body was halfway cut from the right in the center.

The viper shrieked in panic for the first time and went as far back as possible.

While Theo frowned, he was also satisfied to see that the mantis's ability had become able to make such a deep cut on a level 7 viper's body.

The viper curved its body to look at its cut body that had so much thick blood flowing out of it.

Its eyes went even more bloodshot than they already were and it looked at Theo with spite.

Theo knew something was wrong this time, and before he could even think, his sword instinctively went on guard in front of his body.

The viper had traveled so fast with its mouth open, the two big fangs daring to puncture Theo's face.

CLANG!!

What happened even surprised Clara and Elias. The boar started moving on its own to help, making the pup do the same.