Insect Tamer's Ascension-Chapter 378. A space affinity scholar for you

The emperor watched the scene with quiet amusement while the robed individuals hurried to record everything, as though an opportunity like this was rare.

But when they were finally finished, they moved ahead and began recording every detail they could see.

Their pens scratched across the parchment once more, and the emperor turned to Theo with a faint smile.

After a few minutes, one of the robed men leaned close to the emperor and whispered something in his ear.

Theo felt uneasy. Since the first time he had come here, he had never once heard a robed individual speak.

It was obvious who was male and who was female from the lining of their robes, but other than that, Theo knew nothing about them.

"Young Theo, everything has been recorded except the ant queen," the emperor said once the whispering ended.

Theo glanced at the glass container and at the blob of ants clustered tightly at its center.

"It’s tough to get the ants away from the ant queen’s body, Your Majesty," Theo replied. "But I will try my best."

That was, of course, a lie. Theo needed them to believe that he had limited control over the beasts since he didn’t want to reveal what his ants were truly capable of, at least not this soon.

After pretending to struggle for a few minutes, Theo finally sent a mental command. The ants began to scitter around, though they still lingered near the ant queen, as if they couldn’t leave its side in this unfamiliar environment.

When they finally moved far from the ant queen, the robed individuals immediately resumed their writing.

The emperor stepped closer from the side, carefully not to stomp any ants in the formation.

"This..." he murmured thoughtfully. "I think I saw an ant queen about a decade ago, but this looks nothing like it, Young Theo."

"I altered it with the help of my affinity, Your Majesty. As for what they turn out physically, I have no real control over that," Theo explained.

"Do you use your affinity by letting these ants breed and then modify the next generation," the emperor asked, "or do you alter the very insect you are currently working on?"

Theo blinked, surprised to hear such a detailed question from the emperor.

’Did he just think something like that out of nowhere... or is he speaking from experience?’ Theo asked himself.

The first part of letting the insect breed and changing the next generation felt too specific, almost as if the emperor was comparing him to someone else.

"I just change the insect I am working on, Your Majesty. There’s no need to let them breed. I would most probably lose the male during the process."

"Oh? And why is that?" the emperor asked, his curiosity deepening.

It was like the more Theo spoke, the more interesting the conversation became for the emperor.

"Rael," the baron’s voice cut in sharply from the other side of the glass. "Don’t ask such weird questions to my 11-year-old son."

Theo turned and saw his father standing there with a calm and unreadable expression. But in his mother’s eyes, even though her face remained impeccably poker, anger burned in them.

"I got carried away, Aldric," the emperor said with a chuckle.

"Let’s have this conversation again in a few years, Young Theo."

Theo nodded and bowed in agreement. He didn’t look back; he already knew his mother would have her own opinions on the matter.

One of the robed individuals stepped forward and passed the parchment to the emperor, who skimmed through it in barely a minute.

"Hmm... they aren’t all useless... forgive my language."

For a moment, it sounded as though the emperor was speaking his heart out, making Theo feel a flicker of frustration rise within him.

"But all of them have spatial affinity too, huh... that changes a few things."

The moment the emperor said that, he instantly spoke again. "Young Theo, would you like to have a scholar that specializes in spatial affinity to teach you how to draw out the full potential of these ants?"

The day already felt surreal, and with that offer, now it felt like a dream.

Theo hesitated. At first, he didn’t know if he should get a person from the emperor’s side in his home. That felt like a privacy issue and could lead to a leak of information that they wouldn’t want.

’But at the same time... isn’t this what I need to grow? A scholar focused on spatial affinity. I could potentially get help for myself too... But I have to be discreet,’ Theo thought and gave another bow.

"Any help is appreciated, Your Majesty. Thank you."

The emperor nodded. "Very well. With that, the evaluation is fully complete. You all may now go to your accommodations to have some rest and have some dinner; it’s been a long day." The emperor spoke, "Isn’t that right, Aldric?"

The baron smiled faintly and nodded. Now that the evaluation had finally come to an end and seemed to be in favor of the Merricks, it felt like he could lower his guard a little.

"Let’s go, then."

The emperor let the entire family out of the white chamber. And for what might be the last time for however long it would be, Theo glanced back at the machine with distant eyes.

’This is just a simple machine compared to the whole spaceships they come in... the enemies are a lot stronger than the masses know...’ Theo realized the more he thought.

’In my previous world, the nuclear weapons were so destructive that all the countries were scared to use them since an all-out war could lead to potential extinction of their entire race.’

’And these Outer Devils, the ones who can travel the space as if it were nothing, they have mech suits and all the advanced technology. The more I think about it, the more it feels like the beasts alone won’t be enough to protect us from them... With the level of power they possess... they should have destroyed our world long ago...’

’So it’s either there is something about the world I still don’t know about... or something is preventing the Outer Devils from outright destroying our world...’

"Something on your mind, Theo?" the baroness asked as she walked beside him.

Theo looked at her and smiled. "Nothing, Mother. Just thinking about what I should focus on next."