Insect Tamer's Ascension Chapter 520. Weird? Did you call me weird just now?

Varelya’s jaw tightened. It was clear she herself became a little hesitant after listening to the shouts.

Theo looked at her, waiting to see what she would do. He needed to know what she would do right now.

If she broke now and dragged them all to the side, then everything they had done till now would be for nothing.

But that would save a life if they could do something, yet that would come at the expense of their mission’s time and the risk of the dummy being damaged.

The voice cried again, weaker this time.

Theo tried to listen for any inconsistencies but couldn’t. The sound felt genuine, which made even him want to check it out once.

’No, Theo. I can’t do that. If I was alone, I would have tried. But now with a team with me,’ he said to himself.

The instinct to go and help the individual was screaming, but his mind said something else.

For one second, the whole formation looked like it might break.

Then Varelya exhaled and spoke through clenched teeth, which Theo was waiting for.

"Stay on route, I don’t want to see any one of you go in that direction," she spoke with a grave tone.

Theo inwardly nodded.

But it made him wonder if she was just doing it after clenching her heart and thinking straight, or if she was just as cold as she showed herself to be.

The prior theory, if true, was great, but if the latter was true, she was just a bad person to stay with.

The moment they ignored the cry and kept going, Theo was surprised to know that no one rejected her command.

The minds of these young kids were sharp, Theo had to give them that.

Soon, a whistle echoed from somewhere behind the trees.

That was enough proof for Theo that it had been another test.

Soon, they started seeing an opening in the forest where light shone in the front, and a few minutes of running as fast as they could later, a clearing appeared ahead.

At the far side of it stood Professor Velra with two instructors behind him and the same wild grin on his face.

"MOVE THOSE LEGS, YOU WORTHLESS CARRIAGE PARTS!" he shouted.

Theo almost laughed from the sheer nonsense of the insult.

In the professor’s mind, Theo was sure he thought he said something great.

The five of them entered the clearing and did not stop till the dummy and the chest were placed before the professor.

Only then did the tension fall from Theo’s body.

His breathing was heavier than he liked to admit.

Rhevard gently lowered the dummy down and rolled his shoulder once.

Osric wiped the sweat near his jaw and smiled in that same composed manner, but this time it looked a little more genuine.

Saevra fixed her sleeves as if she had done nothing remarkable.

Varelya stood at the front with a face that still looked proud, but Theo could tell from her breathing that she had felt the pressure too.

Velra walked around them slowly and for a few seconds, he did not say anything.

That silence felt more cruel than shouting.

"Terrible," he finally said.

Theo blinked once. He did not know what was terrible about this first practice, they were able to get the dummy back with no scratches.

But then he saw Velra grin and he could tell he was not done with his sentence.

"But not useless."

That made all five of them focus even more.

"Your beginning was all garbage, much like a carriage with a bad jerking wheel. Your formation was loose, your leader was too stiff, half of you waited too long to speak, and the other half thought too much of their own judgment. Truly a garbage start," he spoke while pacing in front of them.

Varelya’s expression darkened but she did not interrupt.

"Still..." Velra stopped in front of Theo first.

The grin was gone this time.

"Theo Merrick, your eyes are useful. Your instincts are useful," he spoke and then shook his head in pity. "But your excitement is not. If that bunny had been an actual hidden predator and you leapt wrong, you would have died first and embarrassed me second."

Theo coughed lightly and lowered his head, but he nodded a little in understanding.

The professor had hit the ball right at the bullseye.

Velra moved to Rhevard next.

There was still no expression on his face that would tell anything to Theo, which made him confused.

’I definitely have to research about this guy.’

"Rhevard, one with the best stability in the team but worst communication. If you see something, say it before someone else nearly loses a leg to it," Velra spoke with a snort.

Rhevard nodded once and then gave a light bow before Velra just looked into his eyes and squinted his eyelids.

"You are to speak something," he spoke with a deep voice.

"Yes, professor," Rhevard said in a split second, which made Theo look at the guy with a perplexed expression.

’Wait a minute... is this what I think it is?’

Theo wanted to be as wrong as he could with this theory.

He had plans for the guy and if what he thought was true, then it would just become a useless connection to have.

Velra looked at Osric this time.

"You got a smart mouth and a good head. You watch people well, but you test your own team too much. If you already know a better move, then say it faster. A carriage wheel has to do its best to move, if even one stops, the whole carriage stops," Velra said.

Theo didn’t know what his obsession with carriages was, but it kind of made sense.

Osric’s smile thinned for a moment before it returned to normal and he nodded.

"I understand."

Then came Saevra.

"You observe the most after Theo, maybe even more. But you keep too much inside that head. Teams are not built by silently being correct. Right now, you’re the worst part of a carriage. If you don’t fix that, you will be kicked first," Velra spoke after coming directly in front of her face.

Saevra’s eyes moved slightly and her nonchalant expression disappeared as she tried stepping back.

But Velra’s boot was already at the foot she was about to step back with.

Theo observed all that and couldn’t help but think the professor was even crazier, but also the fact that he was both strong and smart, which seemed like a deadly combination.

"Noted," she spoke right away and moved her face away.

Velra clicked his tongue and moved away from her.

He didn’t seem happy with anyone, but the most he seemed unhappy with was Saevra.

Lastly, he stood before Varelya.

Theo was looking forward to this one.

He needed to know what a professor thought about her and how different it was from his perspective.

And for the first time since Theo had seen her, the red-haired girl looked a little tense.

"You wanted leadership because you thought rank and year were enough," Velra said bluntly. "They are not."

Theo saw her fingers tighten.

"But..." Velra continued. "You adjusted. You listened when it mattered. You gave proper orders in the last phase and did not break route for a false distress call. That saved your evaluation today."

Varelya let out a controlled breath.

"Thank you, professor."

Velra stepped back and looked at all five together.

"Today was not about strength. It was about seeing how much nonsense lies inside your heads when beasts are taken away," he spoke. "The answer is, quite a lot."

One of the instructors behind him almost smiled before looking away.

"Still, you passed the first practical, but barely. Any more mistakes and I would have kicked you all out of the team right away," he spoke.

Theo felt a little relief that he saw an okayish result in the practice.

All the marks didn’t depend on him, and that was when he lost a lot of pressure.

"I will be honest with all 5 of you," he spoke and continued, "Your team might be the strongest I have seen in a few years, maybe stronger than the team that last represented us."

All five looked at the guy with surprise.

He had just appreciated them in his own way.

"But your biggest weakness right now is..." he spoke, making everyone anticipate what he was about to say.

"You all are weird!" he spoke.

Something clicked inside Theo’s brain and a vein popped in his forehead.

The weirdest individual in this whole group had just called them weird.

All the students looked at the professor with a loss for words.

"With that said, I am done with today’s evaluation." Velra said immediately, as if he had read that thought from Theo’s face. "You all survived, but don’t look relieved yet."

"Tomorrow at dawn, you will report to the eastern beast grounds."

"Your beasts will be allowed this time. It would be just dumb to not include them, you are not in a knight academy." Velra’s grin widened. "And unlike today, the things waiting there will not be academy toys meant only to make you stumble."

The way he spoke that, Theo couldn’t help but be sure that it was going to be difficult.

The guy was only ever happy when things were tough for his students.

"Get out of my sight, eat properly, and if any of you come tomorrow with even an ounce of rigidness, I will personally throw you into the first enclosure," Velra barked.

The five of them straightened right away.

"Yes, professor!"