Insect Tamer's Ascension-Chapter 428. Disrupting the forest

"Well, would you look at that..." Theo said with a small smile.

Clara leaned in to see, but her expression quickly turned to confused.

Theo looked at her and frowned.

"Wait... you cannot see the requirements?" he asked in surprise.

She shook her head.

"Hmm... so you can only see the requirements I assign to you and your beasts. Not others."

"Young Master Theo, the baron is calling for you." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Theo flinched at the sudden voice that came from the side. He recognized it very clearly.

Theo turned to see the head butler standing nearby, slightly confused.

"Can I come after a few hours?" Theo asked.

The man shook his head.

"You are to return immediately. It concerns the evolution you provided to the master."

Theo paused and nodded.

It had already been a few days since he had given the baron that option, and only now was he being summoned?

"...Alright. Let’s go," Theo said.

Without wasting any more time, he bid farewell to the colony and followed the head butler.

As they walked, Theo glanced at the head butler and froze for a moment.

The man had a knowing smile on his face as he stared at that one moss slime.

"Are you sure you don’t want to take that one with you?" said the butler.

Theo shook his head.

"This one isn’t important."

Soon, Theo returned to the carriage and made his way back to the castle.

Once there, he went straight to the baron’s study.

The moment he entered, he noticed the baron’s grumpy expression.

Curious, Theo asked, "You’re still not a Foundation Human, Father?"

The baron didn’t seem like he was in a mood to be chatty, but he still replied while stamping the documents after reading them.

"Theo, you need to know something about your ability."

Theo finally understood why the man hadn’t called for him earlier all this while.

He had simply been too busy.

"I went to a gate, got the requirements, and read them through once. They were the same as yours. I started meditating, and the requirements vanished within a few minutes."

He spoke casually, making Theo frown in confusion.

"They vanished before the five-hour mark? That’s... not written in the ability..."

"Yeah. So I thought about it and realized something," the baron continued. "That skill of yours is still in the beginner stage, and you tried to give a human the opportunity to become something better. I don’t think your ability can handle that yet."

As the baron said that, something clicked in Theo’s mind, something the baron also noticed.

"Hmm... it did say the link could be incomplete sometimes," Theo muttered, scratching his arm.

The baron nodded, then asked. "What is the level of your skill right now?"

Theo checked right away. "It’s level 2."

"Good. Come back and try to give me the link when you reach maybe level 6 or 7. Let’s see if it works then."

Theo opened his mouth, wanting to ask why he had been called so urgently to have such a brief conversation, but before he could speak, the baron had already returned to his work without even saying goodbye.

Theo glanced at the head butler, who simply nodded, as if understanding his unspoken question.

Theo could only sigh.

"Good luck with your work, Father."

"Hm," the baron responded without even looking up.

Theo walked out of the study and made his way back to the carriage, heading toward the slime territory.

As he approached the colony, he realized that the slime he had given the requirements to wasn’t there anymore.

However, another slime sat nearby. Without hesitation, Theo started the Link on it right away.

He fed it the required items for evolution, triggering two evolution options in the process.

*****

[Evolution Name: Bloommoss Slime]

[Evolution Requirements:

- Consume pollen from at least 3 naturally pollinated flowers (0/3)

- Remain in a fertile, soil-rich environment for 24 hours (0/24 hours).

[Evolution Information:

Bloom Secretion (Organ Type): The slime secretes a nutrient-rich fluid that mildly restores vitality and accelerates the growth of nearby plants and low-level lifeforms.

Pollen Draw (Ability Type): The Bloommoss Slime naturally attracts nearby pollen and floral essence, allowing faster recovery and stronger growth in flower-rich environments. Can extract floral essence directly from flowers.

Fertile Spread (Passive): Wherever the slime remains still for some time, the surrounding ground gets enriched, making it ideal for moss, flowers, and small plant life.]

*****

[Evolution Name: Verdant Core Slime]

[Evolution Requirements:

- Strengthen core durability by repeatedly recovering from damage 10 times (0/10)

- Consume 5 nature-rich herbs or medicinal plants (1/5)

[Evolution Information:

Verdant Regeneration: The slime restores its form and mass much faster after taking damage, as long as its core remains intact.

Core Fortification: The evolved core grows denser and is better protected, making the slime far more difficult to be killed with blunt or cutting attacks.

Nature Recovery Fluid: The slime produces a more potent healing secretion that helps close wounds and ease internal strain when applied properly.]

*****

"One evolution will help the forest, while the other could become a menace to the adventurers," Theo said. "Clara, what do you think? A slime that could enrich the land and has vitality-restoring ability is better for the town, or a slime whose core is stronger and every time it survives damage to its core, its skill improves and the core strengthens even more."

Clara looked at him as if he had just spouted a pile of random bullshit, but she answered right away.

"If it’s not for taming or a personal beast, definitely the fertility one. The core-durability one would just end up injuring unaware adventurers."

"Great choice! Let’s find some naturally pollinated flowers and also order some more medicinal plants." Theo spoke as he went around to look for flowers around the plants.

He found a few and tossed them inside the moss slime who was frozen because of the mantis, and found out it may be a lot more difficult than just tossing some flowers.

Theo needed to find the specific varirty that have been pollinated already,