Insect Tamer's Ascension

[Congratulations! You have reached level 5!]

[In order to progress, a quest needs to be completed]

[Quest Generating…. ... ... ….. …. ….]

Theo was standing in the same clearing with a lot of viper bodies beneath his feet.

Looking at his dumbfounded expression, both Elias and Clara became extremely excited.

Theo's heartbeat started beating at the side of his forehead; there was even sweat on his forehead that wasn't there a moment ago.

There it was, the thing he had been giving his all for, the level 5 cap breakthrough. The second big moment of someone's life.

"Is it there yet?" Clara asked in a whisper as if thinking speaking normally would disturb Theo.

He only shook his head while the quest generating notification kept going forward dot by dot, only to come back again and go again as if a software was loading.

A minute later, when the dots finally stopped moving, Theo's heart almost flinched from its right spot.

'Calm down… It's not even here yet,' Theo thought and took a deep breath in between which the quest suddenly popped up.

"COUGH COUGH COUGH" Theo almost choked himself by taking in too much air in the lungs; his gaze never left the notification.

"Are you okay?!" Clara came close and checked if he was okay or not.

Theo ignored her and stared at the message with almost trembling eyes.

[Quest: Discover an insect with a hive-mind ability]

"What… I have never heard something like this…" Theo spoke out with his hand holding his mouth.

"What is it?" Elias asked with even more restlessness now.

"… Let's just go back first… Our work in the forest is done." Theo stated and quickly made the Mantis hop on his shoulder again before starting to move on his own.

Clara quickly told the boar and the pup to grab as many vipers in their mouth as they could without chewing them.

The ape was told the same thing—to grab as many vipers as it could before they all left, too.

A few minutes later, when Warren heard a lot of footsteps of various sounds approaching him, he got up from the carriage and looked at Theo approaching.

"Done for the day, young master?" he asked with a smile, but got no reply from Theo.

He gazed at Clara for a moment before knowing that it was time to keep quiet for now.

But suddenly, he realized something and checked Theo's status, only to have his eyes widen.

Theo was officially seen as level 5 now. Even though the breakthrough had not happened yet, he would stay at 0 experience for level 5 as long as he didn't complete the requirement.

He went inside the carriage and went quiet.

'I expected getting something like 'Increase your strength stat naturally' or defeat this many of such beasts but… this is totally different now.' Theo thought.

Not once did his gaze leave the quest message.

'A hive mind… that's something related to the minds being connected with each other… that much is obvious. But I still lack a lot of information.'

Theo felt like he hit an even bigger boulder than he had thought before, since he breezed through all the training, all the leveling up like it was the easiest thing to do.

And much less with the help of a mantis, an insect.

'This is because of the affinity…' Theo thought with a frown, 'There is a reason many unique-grade affinity holders lack in progress throughout their life or plain out lose their life early, either by depression or dangers…'

Looking at his expression, Clara's concern increased twofold.

"I don't know what the requirements are, young master. But it will be okay." Clara stated after keeping a consoling hand on his knee.

"Yes, you have already worked so hard to get this far, harder than any of the peers your age, young master. Even if it's hard, you will get through this like always." Elias spoke with a fake cheer that was out of his personality.

Theo looked at him for a moment before he chuckled at him, yet that chuckle was a bit too sad to be good.

Clara and Elias looked at each other at a loss for words.

When it came to motivation, there really was no need to motivate Theo, as he did that job pretty well on his own.

But to see him like this just broke their hearts.

"Young master, let's celebrate you getting the quest. I will notify the head butler about it." Clara stated with a clap.

Theo looked at her too, before a look of thoughtfulness came over his face.

"I will have to talk with him myself," Theo said with a serious look.

Before any of the people opposite to them could speak, Theo spoke again.

"This time, it's not about pushing my abilities or just leveling up," Theo spoke, making both Clara and Elias's ears perk up.

Since the quest came, it was the first time he said anything about it.

"But this time, it's about discovering something… and that could definitely take some time." Theo said with a sigh.

"Well, maybe it's something easy to find? These quests were not made to keep humans stuck at this breakthrough but to bring them close to something that will help them the most." Elias spoke in a calm tone, picking Theo's interest.

"That… actually makes sense, Elias." Theo spoke and smiled mildly for the first time.

Clara looked at both of them, and a look of a cute restlessness came over her.

"Yes, that is totally true, young master. You will find it soon, but can you tell me what it is?" Clara said with a smile.

Theo looked at her and, after a few seconds, chuckled.

"What is it?" Clara asked, checking around her if there was something that was funny.

"No, you're just too cute." Theo said while trying to stop his laugh.

Clara first felt surprised, but then that surprise soon changed to a blush. She just looked away out the window without saying anything.

Theo looked at Elias, and both of them shook their heads with a smile.

"The quest is about discovering an insect with a hive mind ability," Theo spoke, making them both serious again.

"I have no idea…"