Reincarnated As A Plant Life
chapter-270

"So when are you planning on actually taking me to the Aternite?" Lucius whispered into his guide's ear.

After they had come across the second mine camp, Lucius had begun to suspect that his guide was using him for its own agenda. However, after the fourth, this suspicion became fact.

He merely allowed the furtong to lead him around out of kindness, hoping that perhaps the creature would have enough shame to actually take him to where he needed to be after saving a few of its brethren.

Though it seemed that the furtong had no shame.

"I-I'm taking you there. I just thought we could save the others we found on the way. Rest assured, I'm leading you to where they store the Aternite," the furtong replied after some thought.

"I hope you realize that I'm not so kind to those who lie in my presence," Lucius warned, patting the furtong on the shoulder with enough force to cause a bit of pain.

"I-I understand," the creature replied, shivering in fear slightly.

The army of furtong they had 'liberated' were beginning to get rowdy. Some were reunited relatives who hadn't seen each other in a long time, so naturally they had a lot of catching up to do, which meant a lot of talking.

Others had lost relatives, and now with fresh hope in the form of Lucius and his entourage, they began to speak of vengeance, going on and on about how they would torture any guards they found.

Whilst some others, though very small in number- spoke of larger goals. They spoke of change in the forest, and how the return of the saviour meant that the lower tiers would soon rule.

It was dangerous talk.

The way they made it sound, it seemed as if 'the saviour' was nothing but a tool, a means to an end for them. They spoke as if their ascension was promised, a right rather than privilege. And the things they whispered thinking he could not hear them, the things they promised to do to the venari and the other ruling races... they were things that sane creatures ought not to talk about.

~Giving some of these guys powers could be dangerous... especially the ones we saved today,~ Lucius thought to himself as he followed behind the guide.

~But I can't stunt the growth of the commune by withholding the system's benefits. Should I create a spy division? Maybe they could monitor the members carefully and choose those who have a lower chance of misusing the power I give them,~ he pondered.

Of course, he understood that there would be a few bad apples who would put up an act, only to go rampant once they gained their powers. However, that couldn't completely be avoided. Besides, what's to say that they wouldn't only become that way once they got a taste of the power anyway?

~Then perhaps instead of just a spy division, it'll be a secret police force. They'd spy on the members, and take out any of them that showed to be plotting any schemes that'd hurt the commune,~ he thought to himself.

He understood that organizations like secret police were historically the weapons of dictators and such, however he also understood that his commune was basically just that. With him as the sole leader, it was nothing more... in fact, it was closer to a cult at this point... which was probably worse.

~I'll set it up as soon as I get back to the commune. I'll let Ghost be the premier of this one,~ he decided, looking over his shoulder towards her.

She was currently staring daggers at some of the furtong behind her -no doubt annoyed at the amount of noise they were making.

"With the amount of noise your people are making, I'm not sure I'll be able to continue going on with them," Lucius said to the guide, not bothering to whisper.

With that, the furtong went silent.

"S-sorry," the guide replied, shooting an annoyed look at his people.

*

After walking for several more minutes, the guide suddenly stopped.

Lucius could sense a terrifyingly-powerful bestial energy coming from somewhere up ahead. It had been one of the several energy readings he had been wary of before they entered the mine. Luckily, however, it was not the one on the same level as the necromancer.

"The Aternite is stored in the cavern up ahead... however there are probably venari in there as well," the guide said.

Lucius looked at the guide for a moment with a scrutinizing gaze.

"If you have something more to say then just say it," he replied calmly, having given the guide ample time to continue.

"Th-they also keep the Morrentors in there... it's where they rest," the guide added reluctantly.

"I-it shouldn't be more than one though. This side of the mine only has two," it added quickly, as if that would make things any better.

~So that's the bestial presence I was sensing,~ Lucius thought to himself.

Based on energy readings, he was confident that he and the others could take on the Morrentor -that was if energy readings were anything to rely on, after all, when it came to beasts it was likely they had natural weapons that would make fighting against them messy- but that was on the condition it was alone.

Sadly, there his earth sense was picking up a large group of high-level guards surrounding the creature. The weakest of them was at least on the level of a purple-tunic, meaning that this wasn't something he could just brute force his way through.

~I'll need to actually think this one through, huh,~ he thought to himself, before gesturing for Ghost and Pagan to come forward.

"Tell us what you know about the layout of the cavern ahead, as well as the Morrentor and the venari guards that take care of it," Lucius said regarding the guide- as Ghost and Pagan joined the conversation.

"I-It's been quite some time since I passed by the cavern, but I'll try to tell you what I know," the guide replied, before beginning its explanation.