Insect Tamer's Ascension Chapter 535. Stonehide Brawler

"Just what is this brown aura, Sir Rhevard?" Theo asked. "It’s quite the mystery."

Rhevard saw Theo taking a step forward and was ready to fight again. He listened to his question but did not say anything.

Theo knew he would be getting nothing right now, it was a battle. But there was no problem in asking.

Under the spatial sense, Theo felt the output of the brownish energy increase for a moment, which made him sigh.

’I will just have to look around later or ask him about it when this match is over... it’s time I end this already.’

Rhevard heard the sigh and, as if that made him annoyed, he started moving forward with his gauntlets ready to hit Theo.

He came as close as a few inches to Theo, who was not moving, and when he was sure that the hit was going to be made at any moment, Theo moved at a very weird angle.

At this point, Rhevard just kept on hitting.

He started making sounds of grunts as if he was using all his strength in those hits, but all were dodged by Theo while he was tapped by either Theo’s leg or sword.

All that time, Theo kept a look on Rhevard’s face from time to time. He could see some frustration on it now as he became exhausted.

Soon, he stepped back and looked at Theo as if he had seen a monster.

"You...." Rhevard spoke on his own for the first time and Theo smiled.

He took one deep breath and moved on his own, and while Rhevard had his guard up, Theo smacked the boy with the blunt side of the sword along the left side of the face, making the boy move to the side.

The pressure activated and Rhevard moved toward the back.

And for the first time, Theo could feel the pressure through his spatial sense before it was fully on him.

He stepped back at the right time, which made him move at the pace of the pressure until it finally came in contact with his body, but the pressure had dwindled a lot.

The referee saw that and looked at Theo with unknown emotions, but his eyes squinted for a moment.

"There is something wrong with this student," one of the seated nobles spoke with a regal posture.

The other one seated beside him just listened, but the one after him nodded.

"He reacts before the attack has even hit him, or even come close enough... his reaction speed is abnormal for his level."

"Oh, it’s definitely a skill," another one at the side chimed in.

The others looked at him and no one could refute that fact.

"I have heard a rumor that this student is trying to bring something to the beast market. But there is no information on what it is," he spoke again.

Listening to that, another one couldn’t hold himself back.

"If it’s the 9th child of the Merricks, it will definitely be related to the insect type. I am sure about that."

Murmurs like that followed along as everyone observed the match. And it was not just them, the whole coliseum was like that.

Rhevard was back on his feet again and the referee had already announced the 2nd hit.

When Rhevard kept staring at Theo instead of coming and attacking him, Theo knew what he had in mind.

"Finally decided to let out the beast?" Theo asked, which only made Rhevard stare at him.

Just when Theo was going to say something about the aura again, he saw it vanish in real time and Rhevard’s forehead flash.

Theo gripped the hilt of the sword tightly as he awaited the beast.

When the silhouette became visible, Theo stopped moving and stared at it with a blank expression.

The very silhouette was broad and stood at more than 7 feet tall.

When the white light was gone, Theo saw the body that looked like that of a gorilla, but there was a trait to its skin that could not be found in a normal beast.

It was fully covered in what looked like rock with some cracks on it that went deep.

It looked back to see Rhevard, who said something with his eyes before its gaze landed on Theo.

RAAAAARRRRRRWWRRR

A very loud roar erupted toward Theo, which made him want to cover his ears. He could hear a ringing noise in his ears from how loud the voice was.

The beast didn’t move any further and Rhevard kept looking at Theo as if waiting for something.

Theo wanted to chuckle but it was time to end the fight already, he had more stuff to deal with.

His forehead flashed white too and the mantis was out in a mere second.

When the Stonehide Brawler looked at the mantis, it let out a ’hmph’ sound through its nose and moved a little closer with the support of its arms.

The mantis’s head jerked a few times as it saw the crowd erupt in shouts.

It looked at the crowd and the head’s twitching increased. Just before Theo could ask something, it erupted in an alien-like screech that made half the crowd go fully silent while the other half erupted into louder screams.

Emotions of restlessness came through the bond but there was also disappointment.

’Don’t worry, mantis. You can’t kill the enemy today, but I will let you have the kill when we get to the nearby forest later on. You can eat your fill too,’ Theo spoke in the bond.

It made satisfied emotions come through the bond before the mantis started moving forward.

When the brawler saw the mantis skittering toward it, Rhevard felt something.

Getting the brawler excited for a battle against a smaller beast was not easy, but right now, the brawler was pumped with enough adrenaline to go on and fight on its own.

The more Rhevard saw Theo and his beast, the more he could tell that nothing about them was normal.

And he didn’t know if it was because he was a Merrick or if it was even weirder than the reputation of the Merricks themselves.