Insect Tamer's Ascension-Chapter 395. Use your aura already

CLANG!

A knight was flung back to the edge of the training ground, and all he could do was stare at the figure before him with frightened eyes.

The man stepped forward. The knight quickly raised his defense again, only for the opponent’s attack to slip past it. The sword thrust straight through the small gap, the sword’s tip striking the knight’s armored shoulder.

The knight still tried to retaliate, but no matter how much strength he put into it, his wooden sword was flung aside in utter defeat.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!"

A voice rang out from the side, making Theo stop his next strike. He blinked in surprise, finally looking at the situation, and then at the person whose head he was going to bash in with the blunt side of his sword.

Theo stepped back right away. That was when Rhys approached.

"Come with me," he said.

Theo glanced at him, then at the knight still lying on the ground.

He moved as if to offer him a hand but stopped when he saw the fear in the knight’s eyes. The man was practically panicking as he saw Theo approaching him.

Theo bit his lip. Without looking at the crowd gathered around them, he turned and began following Rhys.

Once they were out of the training ground and a little far enough from all the whispering training behind them, Rhys stopped and looked at him.

Theo could see that the knight still looked half asleep, but there was clear annoyance on his face.

"If you keep doing this, then I can’t let you train with the other knights, young master," he said.

Theo looked back at him but had nothing to say.

"You know you involuntarily coated your sword with a little aura in the end, don’t you?"

Theo finally opened his mouth, not to speak, but in surprise.

"If that attack had landed... that knight would have been dead," Rhys said casually, but there was something threatening in his tone.

It felt as if he was barely holding himself back from pinning Theo against a wall and scolding him, if not for the fact that he was the baron’s heir.

"Is it about your beast again?" he asked.

Theo remained silent, turning his gaze away with a distant look in his eyes.

But it was not like Theo wasn’t listening to him.

After a few seconds, Theo finally spoke.

"It’s been a week already, Sir Knight," he said in a half-exhausted tone.

Rhys didn’t know what to say. A part of him wanted to console the boy, but another part knew Theo wasn’t handling any of this well.

"...Your father already checked the beast..." Rhys said after a moment. "He told you it’s fine. On the contrary, it’s brimming with energy, young master."

"We have a rare occurrence this week. Moss slimes, the ones that are the closest to the castle, have started coming out of the forest and moving toward the castle... a familiar occurrence that happened when your beast evolved in the forest that one time."

Theo nodded. He had already heard about those things from the baron, who came to check on him every other day. His mother was too occupied with all the work, making it difficult for her to even leave her study most of the time.

Lucien had been in the forest for days now. All they knew was that he was safe. Meanwhile, Cedric had returned to the Knight academy.

The twins were back home and back at their usual antics again. They had tried blaming Theo for being sent to their grandparent’s house, and Theo had simply given them a genuine apology.

They might have been troublesome kids, but they were still kids who had suffered because of him.

Bram was still at the academy, and there was no news about when he would return.

"You need to work on yourself, young master," Rhys said.

"If you want to vent by going all out... then you should fight me."

Theo looked at him with a gaze that clearly said, "Are you serious?"

And the knight was completely serious.

Soon, the group of knights were told to clear the training ground, while Rhys and Theo stepped forward with wooden swords in their hands.

"Do you want to start with..." Rhys began, but his voice trailed off as if he was too sleepy to finish the sentence.

"Just do whatever," he said instead, cutting the conversation short.

Theo searched for an opening he could exploit right away, but as usual, there was nothing obvious on the knight.

Theo stepped forward while Rhys remained in the same spot. Suddenly, Theo dashed forward and thrust his sword forward to test the waters, only for Rhys’s hand to move in response, at a speed that, while Theo could see the motion slowly, he couldn’t do anything against.

The sword struck him, producing a dull ’TUCK’ sound, as if all that speed and force behind it had been completely stopped before the sword could reach Theo.

Theo stepped back slightly, realizing the gap in strength in a new light.

’I cannot defeat him,’ he understood right away.

Yet his grip on the hilt tightened, and he gritted his teeth.

Theo burst forward again with speed and struck at Rhys again, who responded in the exact same manner.

The next minute turned into a series of hits from different angles, all effortlessly stopped by Rhys.

Theo increased his pace even more and tried hitting him with everything he had while trying to spot even the smallest of openings.

But whenever an opening appeared and Theo tried to exploit it, Rhys just blocked it as if it were child’s play.

Theo took several steps back, and without any warning, he hyper-jumped toward Rhy’s position. The knight saw him fly toward him at high speed, the sword ready to strike him at any moment.

But when Theo got close enough, Rhys simply tapped the sword aside, making Theo feel as though he had attacked a wall.

Theo had to stop midway, realizing that forcing more strength would only destroy his wrists again.

Rhys noticed this, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"At least you are not a rookie anymore," he said, as if acknowledging what Theo did there.

"It’s about time you used aura, young master."