Insect Tamer's Ascension Chapter 522. 5 strongest bloodlines and you are one of them

With the professor being as useless as he had always been, the group made their way forward toward the dense forest.

Theo started feeling like he was home when he entered the forest. There was a familiarity that made him feel like he should have a camp here and live in that camp instead of the dormitories.

"So we just tie them up with these, right?" Varelya asked with the smaller rope in her hand while trying to practice the one knot Theo had taught her.

"I think you are forgetting that we have to subdue the beast first," Osric spoke, making her lose her temper and bicker again.

Theo moved his gaze back and once his eyes met with the two students, they understood right away.

They needed to be silent.

Once Varelya realized what Theo had done just now, she gritted her teeth. Not in anger, but in frustration at being lower than him in experience when it came to these things.

"Theo, can you tell me how you reached level 10 so early at your age?" Osric asked in a low voice to stay within the rules of the jungle and still entertain himself.

"I had some issues with the previous academy I was in. One thing led to another and I had to enter a gate, Sir Osric."

"So all the rumors going around about the Merrick family live up to it," he spoke and then looked at Theo, who peeped back at him.

"It’s amazing if you can live up to the strength of a level 10 tamer, Theo."

Theo chuckled at that.

"I want to achieve that too, but there is a limit to how much I can train my body at this age," he spoke.

Osric looked at all the muscle lines around his body and then his height.

"You already are built like a giant for our age. Just like Rhevard, am I right?" he asked while looking back at the buff boy who didn’t say anything.

Osric stared at him for a second before he had to move his gaze forward to not trip on anything.

"Why does everyone keep talking about your family? I mean no offense, but just a while ago, you were only a barony," Varelya asked casually.

All members, Osric, Rhevard, and even Saevra, looked at her as if she had said something very dumb.

"What?" she snapped but decided to be a little gentler in voice.

"You don’t know about the Merricks, Varelya?" Osric asked with a knowing smile.

Theo didn’t look back and tried to spot any beast along his path. So far, nothing, but there was an interesting conversation going on in the back.

"Merricks have incredible individuals starting from the now Count Aldric Merrick, previously Baron Aldric Merrick."

"It is said his 2nd born is very good academically and the firstborn has a great sense of fashion. She has opened a store in the west and it’s doing great."

’Okay what?’ Theo asked himself. Elara opened a store? When did that happen?

"There is information on the 3rd born too, who achieved aura at the age of 13 and has been in the knight academy ever since."

So far, Varelya didn’t seem too surprised, which made Osric’s smile deepen too.

"But so far, after all the older borns, only the last born has been in the news for a year now," he spoke and his gaze went to Theo’s back.

Varelya looked at him too and clicked her tongue, making Osric chuckle.

"But other than that, unfortunately, the heirs are just a cherry on top. The main person behind the Merricks being so famous is Count Aldric Merrick himself."

"His army of knights can rival that of a duchy any time of the day. There are some infamous people that were once part of his army who made their own families and became nobles. They are within his power too."

Theo didn’t look back, not because he had a smug expression but because he never looked at it with such detail.

"And lastly, them being famous is because of their connection with the emperor himself. It is said the current emperor and Count Aldric Merrick have been friends long before he was an emperor, and some rumors say Count Aldric Merrick helped the current emperor into power."

At that comment, Varelya finally looked a little shocked.

She didn’t want to say it, but once the emperor came into the conversation and Count Aldric being the one who got him into power, anyone would be surprised.

The other two just listened normally, not joining the conversation at all.

"Count Aldric Merrick’s contributions to the kingdom are in such numbers that he is also known as a national asset. And now, with his children being such individual personalities, the Merricks have been added to the 5 strong bloodlines of the kingdom."

The more he said, the more even Theo started feeling like his chest was getting pumped from being proud.

"There is only one unfortunate part of all this," he spoke, making everyone listen in like hawks.

"No offense for what I am about to say, Theo. But Count Aldric Merrick also has a title. He is known as the ’Strongest and the Laziest’ in the noble community."

"..." Theo didn’t know what to say to that, what he said actually made sense.

"If he was not lazy, it’s not crazy to assume that the next emperor would have been Count Aldric Merrick."

That was it, the biggest bomb in the whole conversation.

This time, even Theo stopped and looked back.

"... You sure know a lot about my family, Sir Osric," Theo spoke.

"What do you think of me, Theo? I am going to be the next Duke of the Calder family. I should know about such information," he spoke and then with a knowing smile, spoke again.

"How else would I have thought of making you a friend of mine if not for this news?" he asked, which made Theo only smile at that.

One thing was clear, Theo knew how many eyes were on him and his family, but only now did he experience it in real life.