The demonic dragon mantis saw the translucent slash and instantly flapped its wings to evade Valenia's sword-intent attack.
It then landed on another tree. The mantis's predatory gaze locked onto Valenia's broadsword. It seemed to be interested in the sharp aura surrounding her weapon.
The red-haired Valenia smiled. She was happy that she could finally have some solo action.
The demonic dragon mantis lunged again. However, it seemed to be targeting Valenia only this time and not interested in others who had backed away.
Leyvi allowed them to have a one-on-one battle, but he was vigilant about their surroundings. Who knows if other creatures would try to ambush them while they were distracted?
With a mighty swing, she met the mantis' strike head-on. The force of their clash sent shockwaves rippling through the bushes, and sparks flew as Valenia's broadsword held firm against the creature's natural strength. The demonic mantis recoiled and retreated to a distance.
Its alien eyes narrowed, not in fear but in curiosity. It had never been in a disadvantage in a clash like this. Not only did it fail to slice apart the human's weapon, but the clash slightly damaged its sharp scythe-like forelegs. What was that aura emanating from the sword?
Why hasn't it attacked again? It kept looking at my new broadsword. Valenia thought while keeping her eyes on the giant dragon mantis.
During the shopping yesterday, she decided to buy a new broadsword that could withstand the power of her sword intent. Although she still wanted to use the previous one for sentimental reasons, she realized it wasn't a good idea. So, she kept away from the previous one for now. Who knows, maybe someone could upgrade it in the future.
Suddenly, the demonic dragon mantis stance relaxed, as if it had given up on attacking. This change made Valenia confused. Come on bug, give me a fight! Why are you stopping?
Just as Valenia began to feel upset, a strange clicking noise emerged from its mandibles, a series of rhythmic sounds that resonated with eerie intelligence.
"Huh?" Leyvi felt surprised.
"What did it say?" Anda asked. Although she couldn't understand anything, she could recognize when a demonic beast tried to communicate.
"Val! It wanted to see your flying slash again!" Leyvi relayed the translation.
"Eh?" Valenia was dumbfounded.
What is going on with this twig? Is this guy interested in my sword intent? No wonder it kept looking at my broadsword.
Valenia hesitated, but then stepped forward, her aura flaring once more. She raised her broadsword and unleashed a flying slash, a brilliant crescent of energy that soared through the air and carved into a nearby boulder, splitting it cleanly in two.
The mantis watched intently, its unblinking eyes reflecting the glow of the attack. It then shifted its stance, raising one of its forelegs. A faint green aura began to shimmer around its limb, a crude mimicry of Valenia's sword intent. With a swift motion, it attempted to replicate the flying slash.
The green arc sputtered mid-air and dissipated, failing to carry the power and precision of Valenia's attack.
Leyvi and the ladies were shocked at what the demonic dragon mantis had done, especially Valenia. This mantis just casually learned how to use blade intent from observing her a few times. Although it wasn't complete, it was still a tremendous feat.
Cultivators worldwide would cry if they knew an insect learned blade intent without effort. Leyvi realized that genius and prodigy exist even among demonic beasts.
It then tried a few more times but failed every time. The mantis turned its head towards Leyvi and let out another series of clicks and hisses.
"Human, I want to learn that skill from her. Tell her I want to follow her." It had realized that Leyvi could understand its speech for some reason, so it talked directly to Leyvi this time.
Leyvi was stunned. This brown genius mantis wanted to follow Val? Holy! She is so lucky! This is a good thing! Now she will have a sparring partner!
"Mantis, if you want to follow her, let her implant a spiritual imprint on you. Once you become her spirit beast, you can learn that skill." Leyvi stated the condition.
What? This mantis wanted to follow me? Am I dreaming? Valenia was in disbelief. She would have never imagined for this to happen.
The demonic dragon mantis hesitated. It had seen many humans bring demonic beasts into the forest as their partners, so it wasn't a foreign concept to it. However, it wasn't sure if it could trust these humans. It only wanted to follow her to learn the sharp aura, not get controlled.
"Val, show it even stronger sword intent." Leyvi sent a sound transmission.
Valenia didn't hesitate. If she could tame this demonic mantis, she wouldn't have to worry about a sparring partner anymore. An opportunity like this was very rare.
She planted her feet, gripping her broadsword tightly, and began focusing. Since it wasn't a fight and just a show-off, gathering and concentrating became much easier.
Her sword intent erupted like a storm, the silver-blue aura expanding far beyond the blade. The air around her grew heavy, and the faint hum of her power turned into a sharp, vibrating resonance.
Fortunately, she was using her new broadsword. If it had been her previous one, it might not have been strong enough to endure the stress.
She raised her blade high, focusing her intent on a single, overwhelming strike. The aura around her sword intensified, coalescing into a blindingly bright arc of energy. With a thunderous roar, she swung downward, releasing a slash that tore through the earth, leaving a deep trench and sending a shockwave that rustled the distant treetops.
Valenia smiled while wiping her sweat. She felt satisfied with her power so far.
"Hahaha! How's that mantis? Come on, don't be shy. If you follow her, you will be able to do something like that," Leyvi persuaded.
Inwardly, he felt shocked by Valenia's power. That sword intent slash was powerful enough to cleave a high-level demonic beast in half. Heck, even his current tough body couldn't resist that! Maybe he should hold back on teasing Valenia for the time being.
The demonic dragon mantis froze, its eyes fixed on the devastation Valenia had caused while imagining doing something similar in the future. Wouldn't it be the coolest mantis that ever existed? Furthermore, it was tired of living in hiding in this forest dominated by demonic plants, anyway.
It discarded any lingering hesitation and communicated with Leyvi. The fact that the humans tried to persuade it instead of ganging up and beating it into submission was enough proof that they were well-meaning.
"Human, I agree. You can tell her." The mantis made the biggest gamble in its life.
"Haha! Good, don't worry mantis. You won't regret your decision! Please don't resist when she implants her spiritual imprint, okay? Val, you can proceed!" Leyvi replied to the mantis and then instructed Valenia.
"Anda, ready to protect Val using fire concept if the mantis does something," Leyvi told Anda secretly.
"Yes," Anda replied. She knew that Leyvi was being cautious. After all, who knows if the mantis would change its mind at the very last moment?
Thankfully, the worst-case scenario didn't happen, and Valenia successfully tamed the demonic dragon mantis.
"Hehe. I finally got my own spirit beast now." Valenia was visibly happy.
"Here, a spirit beast bag." Leyvi tossed a spirit beast bag he brought out from his internal storage room.
"So Val, what would you name it?" Anda asked.
"Eh? Emm..... I'm not sure. Any ideas?" Valenia started thinking.
"I know, I know! How about Brownie?" Nala suggested excitedly.
The group rolled their eyes. Are you naming it Brownie because of its brown color? Poor Reddie. She was obviously named the same way.
"What about Chop-chop?" Lilian also suggested.
Valenia shook her head. She didn't want to vocalize those words. Chop-chop sounds weird.
"How about we call it Slashy?" Leyvi suggested this time.
Valenia nodded in agreement. "Slashy. It sounds good. Alright, let's go with this!"
"From now on, your name is Slashy, okay?" Valenia said to the demonic dragon mantis.
Slashy made some clicking sounds. "Yes, master."
"No no, don't call me master. Call me mistress." Valenia instructed. If Leyvi was called boss by his spirit beasts, she preferred to be called mistress!
"Yes, mistress!" Slashy replied.
"So, are you a male or female?" Leyvi asked.
"Male," Slashy replied. Leyvi then told the other ladies.
Slashy looked at Valenia and said. "Let's start the training. I want to learn that right now."
Leyvi and Valenia were dumbfounded. This guy is really impatient!
Leyvi suddenly stiffened, his expression turning serious. His spiritual sense detected strange movements of something closing in on their position. He only noticed the movements after they were closer.
"Something's coming." Leyvi alerted them. "Huh? Roots?" He finally saw what they were after many of them converged.
"Slashy said the things approaching should be Demonic Strangler Figs. A bunch of them live around here." Valenia repeated what Slashy told her.
"Hahaha! It's time to fight some plants, ladies! They are here!" Leyvi felt excited.
The forest trembled as Demonic Strangler Figs began to emerge from the shadows, drawn by the disturbance caused by Valenia previously. These towering plants had roots that writhed like serpents and bark that pulsed as though alive. Well, they were alive.
"Everyone, we have delicious nutrients to suck today! Assume formation!" Leyvi heard one of the demonic plants say.
Leyvi was stunned. It seemed that he could understand demonic plants too.