Insect Tamer's Ascension

Theo opened the full set and saw almost everything that he needed. There was even a belt with many compartments and bags attached to it, which were also made from the same leather.

"If it was real dragon leather, there would have been big scales on it. But being a lesser dragon, the scales are very strong, but still, they are not as detailed as a dragon's," the Baroness explained.

"Mother, I know what it means to get a dragon leather armor, be it lesser or full dragon—even a wyvern. I know it's hard to get their leather," Theo spoke while scraping his hand and seeing how prickly it was. The exterior was very hard but also flexible, which was weird.

Dragons were the only beings that were said to be the strongest at their weakest. Even a just-born dragon was a stronger being than most beasts below level 3.

But the thing that made getting dragon leather even more difficult was how long they lived. Even without leveling up, these beasts could live up to 200 years or longer—but after leveling? It was hard for them to naturally die.

And their birth rate was very bad too. Theo had read in one of the books that while dragons lived long, they only gave birth around 5 to 6 times, which was way less considering silverfang wolves, who at an individual adult female level gave birth to more than 10–12 pups every few months.

While the normal breeding seasons in his previous world were mostly before winters and once a year, in this world, the breeding months were a lot more diverse. What was natural here couldn't be called natural with common sense.

But to say natural in a world like this was a rather complicated thing—seeing that when a species of beast went extinct due to any cause, be it natural or man-made, the extinct ones always came back with the help of the artifact deep inside the planet's core.

That was what made his world a lot more unique and also, a target of beings outside the planet. The value of the artifact was known by outsiders too, which told a lot about the artifact itself.

Elias looked at the leather with curiosity. That was an armor made from a lesser dragon skin—a literal 'rare' item indeed.

"I will cherish this, Mother. Thank you."

"Say that to your father when he returns," the Baroness spoke with a smile before her eyes became distant and dazed.

"He will return healthy, Mother. If Merricks are made for success, then he is the one who is at the top of us all. He is the Merrick." Theo tried consoling her with the only way he knew, and the Baroness only chuckled and patted his head.

When it was all done, Theo bid farewell and went back to his room. Elias was holding onto the box with the armor inside.

"This will make tomorrow's goal a lot more reachable, young master," Elias spoke with determination.

Theo nodded. Tomorrow was the day they had given so much time for. To defeat a creature simply 4 levels above his own, Theo had to do a lot of planning.

And all the planning had resulted in a lot of time being passed—even his 9th birthday had come and would go—and only now would he kill the level 7 beast on his own.

When he reached the corridor of the castle where his room was at, Theo saw the person he saw many times a day.

"Clara? What are you doing here?" Theo asked in curiosity.

Clara being here was an anomaly now as she was not an attendant anymore, making her entry in the castle useless.

Clara quickly moved forward. There was a small box in her hand. When Theo looked at it, he couldn't help but feel happy. She had brought a gift for him.

Seeing this, even Elias didn't fall behind. When he and Theo stopped, Elias came forward and moved something out of his pocket.

"What are you guys doing? A gift is not necessary. You both do a lot as it is," Theo stated.

"Everyone is excited to get gifts on their birthday, young master," Clara stated with a giggle and offered the box in her hand. "Though this is nothing compared to what the other heirs and the Baroness might have given you, I would still like to give this to you."

When Theo took the small box in his hand, he couldn't help but feel like it was a box of a ring, but he dismissed it—the length of the box was larger to be a ring.

He quickly opened it and when he saw the inside, Theo became confused.

"This is a memorable piece I've saved up until now, young master," Clara spoke. "This is the canine tooth of the same level 7 Petrastone that we fought at that time," Clara stated.

When Theo heard that, his eyes widened in shock, looking at the big tooth. It was yellow from many sides but cleaned very precisely, making it eye-appealing.

"I am gifting this to you because… I want you to know that no matter how big of a difficulty comes toward you, young master, it will all be solved no matter what. Just like this one was solved," Clara spoke, and a few tears came out of her eyes while she thought of that moment.

Theo smiled nostalgically too. It was now so long ago that it didn't come to his mind that often. But to have this memento—to make him realize the fact that he was able to surpass such a difficulty with her when he was just a level 2 human—

Just that thought told him many things.

"This is the third most heartfelt gift I got today, Clara. I will always cherish it," Theo said and closed the box with a warm smile.

Clara just pursed her lips and nodded. For some reason, her tears weren't stopping. Yet soon, they did.

Theo looked at Elias, who stood there awkwardly with a small vial of a paste-like thing.