Insect Tamer's Ascension

With the head so close to Theo's hand, he decided to not move abruptly. His gaze went on the knight who was smiling for the first time.

The mantis was inches away from the wyvern, and their eyes were latched on each other.

Suddenly, it moved its foreleg slowly toward the wyvern's face.

SCREEE

A sound of metal scraping at a hard surface resounded everywhere. The wyvern's pupils focused further and then went back to normal. It let out a light air from its nose, making a steamy, somewhat hot air come out.

'Are you crazy?' Theo thought through his mental bond, the mantis just scraped it's foeleg at a wyvern's skin.

Theo covered his face and looked at the front again only to see that the big wyvern had moved back again.

He took a sigh of relief. Seeing such a creature was one thing, but to be this close to it and feel nothing but helpless was another thing.

"She likes you, young master. Especially your beast," Rhys said while scraping his nails at his beast's neck, which made the wyvern make some satisfying sounds.

"Let us go now," he stated again, and soon, the wyvern opened both its wings to the extreme wind span and went down on the ground.

Rhys offered to get Theo's hand, which Theo gave right away. They stepped forward onto the thin-looking wings of the wyvern.

Theo felt weird about getting on from the wings, as it looked quite the delicate part of the wyvern.

But when he kept his feet on it, Theo felt like he was walking on concrete. In no steps did the wings move up and down; it was stable.

When they reached its back, both he and Rhys sat on the left and right of its spiky scales in the middle.

"You might need to put your beast somewhere else in safety, young master. I need you to hold onto this tightly," Rhys stated. The sleepiness on his face was gone for some reason.

Theo looked at the spikes above the spine of the wyvern that they were to hold and nodded. He slowly moved his hand inside his chest's pocket and opened it.

The mantis looked at it and then at Theo before it slowly went inside it fully and bobbed its head up cutely. It was only cute for Theo.

Theo latched his hands onto the spiky growths in the middle, and to his surprise, they were movable as if it was cartilage of a human's ear.

Theo bobbed it left and right in curiosity, making the wyvern look back at its back with squinted eyes, making Theo stop his actions.

"Go," Rhys said once, and the wyvern snorted out a little fire. Theo made sure that fire did not start a fire or something.

But to his relief, nothing happened. With its wings still opened, the wyvern flapped them once, making wind blow up aggressively.

At the second flap, it hopped with its feet in the air, and each flap of wings from there made it go up.

Theo latched onto the spike aggressively, but when he realized that even when the wyvern was trying to get up in the air vertically, they were at a point of its back near the neck that they were still on a plain surface.

Yet the winds that blew all around his body made Theo feel euphoria. It was a hundred times better feeling than getting some fresh air from the window of the carriage.

'I have been a literal frog in the well till now. So much to explore in this world. So many fascinating creatures…' Theo thought with a hopeful smile on his face.

'No more only castle and forest from now on. I will travel more. No matter what it takes.'

While Theo was having his own thoughts of determination, the wyvern had started to move toward the castle now.

It didn't flap its wings again and again but beautifully kept them straight to make winds do all the work.

At this point, they were not even flying but gliding, yet the feeling was still the same.

Theo checked on the mantis, who had latched onto the pocket's leather opening with its not injured foreleg. He could tell that the leather wouldn't last a long time under its grip and chuckled, making a lot of air go in his mouth instantly.

Theo was having the best time of his life. The scenery was something that could not even be expressed properly through words.

The rays of sun that were falling on them, the euphoric winds all moving all around, the clouds that were just a bit above them—it was the best day of his life if not for Clara's injury.

His mind diverted toward her again, and while he still was enjoying the moment, a sense of urgency came in his heart.

"Sir Rhys, how long—" Theo stopped speaking midway when he saw Rhys.

His hands were not even latched onto the spike, and he was sitting in a simple lotus feet position.

The most astonishing thing was that he was sleeping with his mouth wide open.

Air seemed to be going inside his mouth, but he still didn't care.

Theo did not know whether to laugh or cry. He laughed a little, making winds go inside his mouth too.

The travel was very peaceful, and Theo saw the town from so up in the air too.

It looked very small from above, but it was so developed that a smile crept over his face.

One day, he was going to visit this place—something operated by his own family. Thousands of people just living there.

There were very big structures like towers and big broad buildings too, from what he could see. It was the first time he ever saw anything but a map of the town.

Another five minutes later, Theo saw the small silhouette of the castle become bigger and bigger until they were very close to it.

When they were only a few minutes away from the castle, the wyvern glided downward this time, making Theo grab onto his pocket and the spike more tightly. It felt like he was going to fall.

"Fucking bitch, we have a prince with us today," Rhys spoke with a half sleepy, half grumpy voice.

The wyvern moved its face all the way back to them with its flexible neck, and what seemed like a cheeky smile formed on its face.

Even the eyes were all playful right now as if it was not a wyvern but a simple beast.