First Tame (1)

There were a few books on how the system worked after getting a tamed beast.

Theo went through the main parts, and it took him a few hours to do so.

'After I tame something, I can see their stats as I see mine. A soul bond will be made with the tamed beast,' Theo recalled what he first read. 'It will also show how much experience points the tamed beast gets and how much is needed for a level-up... Usually, after a tamed beast defeats something, 60% Exp goes to the beast, and the remaining 40% goes to the tamer...'

Theo stretched his legs. It had been a while since he moved from the library.

'The beasts stop leveling up after level 5 and need something extra to break that glass ceiling… But there's no point worrying about it right now. It'll be a while till I reach level 5,' Theo thought.

'Aside from this, the last most important detail is the beast's favorability and compatibility... If the beast is happy, everything is okay, but if it starts getting sad because of the tamer, then it's another worry. Hopefully, I don't need to deal with that.'

The basic information he needed to know was only this much. While the information seemed minimal, Theo still didn't want to take any chances.

Information was key, and not having it, especially when there was so much access, seemed like blatant stupidity to him.

"Alright," he got up and sighed deeply. It was finally time to take some action. No matter how much he wanted to delay it, there was no point in doing so now.

"Going back to the room, Young Master?" Clara asked from the side. She was standing near him.

"Yes, I have something important to do now."

"As you wish, Young Master." Clara was concerned while looking at Theo. She knew there was something bothering him.

They started walking out of the royal library, and Theo made eye contact with Bernard. He simply nodded toward him, and the old man reciprocated with a puff of smoke from his pipe.

"Good luck with the taming, Young Master," Bernard said when Theo reached the gate of the library, making him stop.

Yet he started moving again without any reaction.

"If there's something on your mind, you can tell me, Young Master," Clara finally asked, and Theo changed his persona from a serious boy to a playful one right away.

"I'm okay, Clara. You keep worrying over nothing."

At an age where the only thing Theo should be doing is playing, he was reading and learning things one should learn with time and experience. Clara wanted to do something about it, but she couldn't find a way to get Theo to open up his heart.

The distance pained her heart, yet she knew she was nothing but an attendant of the Merrick Barony.

Theo didn't know Clara's inner worries. In his mind, there was only one thing he could focus on—to tame his first insect.

In a few minutes, they reached the room again, and Theo went inside the Terrarium Room after telling Clara to wait.

Clara watched Theo close the gate and couldn't help but feel even more worried.

Theo went to the mantis's box and saw that the rat's corpse was halfway eaten. The mantis was in its sleeping spot and didn't even react when Theo came near.

"You really are a glutton," Theo muttered and opened the status screen. There was the word 'Tamable' by the mantis's name.

With a deep breath, Theo thought about agreeing to start the taming.

At first, nothing seemed to happen but in a second, a loud bell sound resounded everywhere.

Theo's body jerked from the sudden loud noise, and the next second, a small blue screen popped up in front of him replacing the first.

[Tame the Iron Mantis (Level 1)?]

Theo read the question and looked at the Iron Mantis. It had already gotten up, and its eyes were fixed on Theo.

With determination, Theo thought, 'Yes,' and the notification vanished.

Theo waited a few seconds, but nothing happened. Yet the mantis was stuck watching him.

It weirded Theo out, but the very next second, in a single blink of the eye, everything darkened.

DING!

Another bell sound made Theo look at the notification.

[The Iron Mantis (Level 1) has successfully let you enter its consciousness.]

[Offer the mantis a taming contract?]

[Caution! Once the Iron Mantis is tamed, its soul will be bound with you. Breaking the contract is impossible until the tamer or the tamed beast is dead.]

Theo read through the notification, the words 'breaking the contract is impossible until death' sent a chill through Theo. This wasn't just a partnership—it was a bond of life and death, a commitment that neither could escape

Theo then looked around him, he stood in a void so deep it felt like the absence of everything—sound, light, even time itself. His own breathing felt loud, a stark contrast to the deadly silence.

Theo felt shivers, yet the next second, he instinctively felt that something was there.

"Iron Mantis, are you there?" Theo asked, and his voice echoed.

Nothing seemed to respond, and Theo felt like continuing with the process. But just when he didn't expect it, a bright light shone in front of him out of nowhere.

Theo's eyes flinched; the light was too bright to look at.

When he was finally able to see again, Theo was surprised beyond measure. His eyes widened as his gaze shifted upward.

A big monster's face had formed from the bright energy.

"Iron Mantis?" Theo asked, and that seemed to make the monster's face react.

It wasn't a monster's face but the Iron Mantis's. For the first time ever, Theo had looked at it up close, and it was very horrifying.

The mantis's face slowly moved down until it directly came in front of Theo.

Theo wanted to step back, but when he saw the mantis's big eyes up close, he couldn't help but feel familiarity.

The mantis's eyes gleamed with something unfamiliar—was it curiosity? Trust? Whatever it was, Theo felt the weight of its gaze, as if it was waiting for it to prove itself worthy.

Instinctively, his hand started moving up until it finally landed right in the center of the mantis's eyes.

KRUUUU.

A hoarse voice came from the mantis's mouth, making its mandibles move too. One might have run away by now, but Theo could feel what the mantis was feeling right now.

It wasn't just the feeling of being safe with Theo there but a sense of trust too.

It was the first time Theo realized what the mantis's feelings were toward him.

"You're like a child even now, you brat," Theo laughed while saying, patting the mantis's face.

Another notification popped in from of him.