While the carriage stayed back, Theo went toward the dense, countless trees with Clara.
Clara's eyes seemed to close for a second before both her beasts came out of the beast space.
When the Ironback Boar's eyes opened and it saw the surroundings, it hurried to Clara's side and stayed in the space between Theo and her.
The Silverfang Direwolf Pup didn't seem to understand at first, but it suddenly ran to Theo's right and clung to his leg with its guard up making him surprised.
'Was that a mental command?' Theo thought, as the pup was not trained enough to come and protect another without a command.
Now, Theo was protected on both sides—on one was the Silverfang Direwolf pup, and on the other was the Ironback Boar.
"Young Master, please stay between my tamed beasts. We will now start moving toward the location of the Whispering Woods where the Moss Slimes reside."
"Alright," Theo himself moved his palm up and let the Iron Mantis see its surroundings.
He had to make a lot of mental commands toward the mantis so that it would not attack the two tamed beasts beside them.
Theo still did not know how the mantis would react in front of such humongous beasts as the Ironback Boar and the Silverfang Cub.
'It's not attacking them... and I don't know if it's because it knows it can't defeat them or because of my commands…'
They all moved slowly toward the forest and successfully reached its outskirts in a matter of minutes.
Theo knew that the outskirts of the forest were regularly maintained. There was supposed to be tall grass all over the place, much like how the deeper parts of the forest were yet the outskirts were all clean. The maintenance was to prevent beasts from sneaking up on people who entered the forest.
When they neared, Clara stopped for a moment, which made the cub forcefully stop Theo from moving forward by using its body as an obstruction.
Theo was surprised by the level of training the cub had but then looked forward. They hadn't even entered the forest fully, and Clara had already stopped.
He noticed Clara looking everywhere sharply and then at the boar, which seemed to nod toward her.
Clara started taking steps forward, and that made the cub move too, guiding Theo along.
They neared the entrance, and Theo looked at the nearest tree from top to bottom. The tree was very large and had very dark bark. There were even a lot of cracks that came with age, making him wonder how old it was.
Yet after walking forward, he couldn't help but feel that every tree was like that.
Theo tightened the leather strap he was wearing on his arm and shoulder.
Before leaving, Clara had clad him in some leather armor that had intricate designs.
Theo knew the armor had magical abilities, but as to what they were, he had no idea.
"We will be in the Moss Slime clearing in a few minutes, Young Master. Are you okay?" Clara asked to check on him.
"You and your beasts are doing a great job protecting me. I am all okay, Clara."
"That's what we are here for, Young Master. Your absolute protection," Clara said. It almost felt like an automatic response. But seeing how focused Clara was on her surroundings, Theo didn't mind.
After a few more minutes of moving through the forest, which was completely clean aside from the trees, Theo finally saw an area with fewer trees. From afar, it looked like an unusual spot because everywhere else in the forest was densely covered with big trees.
"It's right there in front of us, Young Master. We will move much slower from now on," Clara clarified, and without stopping, they continued approaching the clearing.
Theo gulped. His palm was up this whole time while the mantis sat on it. They walked and walked until Theo caught sight of something in that clearing.
From afar, it looked like a small blob of water that seemed to be moving. There was a greenish growth on it, as if it had algae floating just like on the surface of a pond.
"Young Master, from this point on, it's the territory of the Moss Slimes. They can be anywhere."
Theo heard Clara's whispering voice and nodded. He pointed in front at the blob, and she nodded in response.
"We will approach it and see if there isn't more than one in a single place…"
Theo nodded, and they started moving as slowly as possible. They avoided stepping on dried leaves on the ground, and it was only fortunate that there weren't many of them in the area.
When they reached a big bush, Clara stopped completely. Her eyes were fixed on the small blob of water.
Theo also looked at it and thought about it's status.
======
Moss Slime
Grade - Uncommon
Type - Nature
Level - 2
======
Theo's heart raced with excitement. He looked at the mantis and then at the Moss Slime. The size difference was not too much.
'I can finally see if the Iron Mantis will take my commands in a serious fight or not.' He thought and commanded the Iron Mantis to be ready, to which it immediately assumed a fighting pose.
"Young Master, usually, Moss Slimes are tamed by nature or healing-affinity tamers because of their healing abilities. But only the ones that are Rare grade are worth taming. We can hunt the ones that are Common and Uncommon grade only. This one in our front is the best target," Clara stated.
"Are there any Ordinary-grade ones here?" Theo asked with curiosity, to which Clara only shook her head.
"I will send the Silverfang for some scouting. Hopefully, there aren't many in this area."
Just when Clara said that, the Silverfang Cub left Theo's side and briskly ran to the right.
Theo marveled at her command, 'Her prowess with mental commands is unbelievable. I might have to ask her about it later…'
Theo's gaze didn't leave the blob of green water. It was a slime of the Uncommon grade—something that was two grades above his mantis.
He saw the mantis, which was already ready to go, and after looking at the surroundings first, he finally took a step forward.