Reincarnated As A Plant Life
chapter-236

As he made his way further down, he began sensing more and more presences.

At first, he pondered whether they were all coming from the guards -in which case there were many more than he had initially presumed- however he quickly realized that this wasn't the case.

The additional energy readings he was picking up were dim, and not in the sense that they were too far away -in fact, he could sense that they were just a short distance ahead. No, these signals were those of a weakened creature, it was as if they had been exhausted of all their energy.

~What's going on here?~ he thought to himself, as he heard the echoed moans of a multitude of creatures coming from the tunnel hallways that he was about to walk into.

He paused for a moment, trying to make sure that there was nobody of considerable power within the area, before continuing his advance.

Like at the crossroads, there were a few light-runes in this hallway, emitting enough light for him to see the horrors that were locked down there.

~A prison?~ he wondered to himself, as a column of warm and putrid air wreaked havoc on his advanced senses.

The odour was enough to clog his breath at his throat, sending him to his knees due to the pure suddenness of it. For a moment he thought he was being attacked, and called out [kumulipo], however, he quickly realized that this was simply the smell that hung onto these creatures.

~What did they do to deserve this?~ he wondered to himself, as he regained his composure, trying his best to cover his nose, but failing at it terribly.

There were dozens, of narrow jail cells dug into the tunnel walls, their bars made from the extremely hard wood of the earlier section of the pristine forest.

Each of them was just wide enough for the creatures they held captive to stand up straight.

Though many of them were leaning against the walls, their flesh grated by the hard earth.

There were a number of runes all over the walls, which perhaps explained why the smell hadn't wafted all the way to the surface. And also why he couldn't hear their moans all the way up there even with his advanced hearing.

He slowly strode past each jail cell, checking to see if any of his children were among the captives.

However, this proved detrimental to his already fragile mental state.

Among the captives were pups, cubs, and other kid versions of various creatures. It seemed the venari did not discriminate, as he noticed a few of them down here as well.

The more he saw, the surer he was that these creatures had been wrongfully put down here.

Their bones pushed against their flesh, not an ounce of meat on their bodies as if they were all on the brink of starvation.

The tunnels should've been cold, but he found that the warm putrid atmosphere was coming mostly from a few of the captives' defecation. In which dozens of tiny -and no doubt parasitic- worms had decided to make their home, causing heinous infections on the captive's feet, that were slowly spreading up to the rest of their body.

~This guy's a real sicko,~ Lucius decided to himself, hastening his pace.

Death wasn't an issue for him, but this?

"H-Help me," a voice strained to call out. It came from one of the jail cells that he was passing through.

For a moment, he stopped to check who it was.

But that was a mistake.

He had noticed that small pieces of flesh had been missing from most of the other prisoners, though initially, he assumed it was due to chafing with the walls.

However, he now knew better.

It was a venari -it's short horns and feminine build hinted at it being a female. Its mouth was covered in blood, and pieces of flesh hung from its teeth. Which was difficult to ignore, as a bite mark of similar size had bored a hole in one of her arms.

The best he could do for her was kill her, but he was not in a position to freely use up magical energy. And physical means would mean getting some of her blood on him, which could be tainted with unknown diseases based on her rabid nature.

"I'll come back for you guys once I'm done here," he whispered, before carrying on with renewed vigour.

Now there was no question in the matter. Lucius didn't consider himself a hero by any means, but no sane person could leave a villain willing to do all this unchecked.

He was not certain what they had done to deserve this, but the fact that children were among them- animal or not- meant that the system was badly designed.

*

The next section of the tunnels was fully lit up, with runes spaced at regular intervals. Even the tunnel walls here had been polished, and as he ventured deeper, he found that their material had begun to change as well.

The earth walls were now coated by a substance akin to epoxy, which made it seem as if they were marbled.

With these changes, came an increase in the energy readings he was getting.

He could sense at least 12 medium to low threats, which he assessed were the guards. However there was a single presence in that room who qualified as a high-level threat, someone Lucius would actually have to pull out all the stops for.

In addition to that, he could sense a higher level of energy coming off from something else. Usually living creatures emitted pulse-like signals, however, this one was constant, so it was safe to assume that it was some kind of mana-infused item.

He paused just a little before the entrance to that room came out, and stood there silently... listening, assessing how he would have to go about this.

"My father will no doubt be in a terrible mood after his meeting with that creature," a voice mumbled, it sounded as if they had food in their mouth as they spoke.

"But, as disgusting as that thing is, it'll make us richer? Don't you agree?" the voice asked, to which mumbled sounds of approval echoed throughout the room.

"And who do you think all that wealth will fall to once my father ascends the throne? He won't have need for all this once he does that, he told me himself," the voice continued.

"You of course master," another voice replied meekly.

"Hmm?" the first voice mumbled, and a moment later the sound of a scuffle echoed throughout the room.

And then silence.

~One less energy reading,~ Lucius thought to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.

He was about to deal with a madman.