Reincarnated As A Plant Life

Chapter 275: Minecrawlers [XV]

"Have you checked the area further back?" he asked as he walked back into the cavern.

Venari corpses were sprawled all across the floor, most of them half charred-flesh and half bone —Lucius's handiwork.

Others had chunks of flesh missing from their necks, and claw marks all over their bodies. But the most unfortunate of them were those with the charred eyes, no doubt Pagan's doing. Who knew what reason he had for taking their eyesight before killing them?

"No, not yet," Ghost replied.

Lucius pointed towards the darkness at the end of the tunnel, and Ghost understood her task. With a whisper, she disappeared into thin air, and Lucius felt her presence withdraw into the darkness.

"Start picking up anything that looks valuable and put it in a pile over here," he announced to the rest of the group, pointing at the cavern's centre.

As everyone began to search the remains of the fallen enemies, Lucius's attention was drawn to something shimmering within a pile of ashes to his right.

He quickly picked up the object and dusted the ash off its surface. ~What's this?~ he thought to himself, inspecting the object. It was a green gemstone with several runes etched into its surface.

As he touched it, he felt a strange electric buzz rush into his body. It felt soothing, like the pain from his rena overuse was slowly seeping out.

~Interesting,~ he thought to himself, before placing it into his knapsack. It would require further research to determine its exact function, though he could already guess what effects carried.

"If anyone finds a green gem, report it to me," he announced, before moving towards another corpse.

Just then, he sensed a presence approaching, it took him only a few moments to realize it was Ghost.

"What's going on?" he asked before she could even unveil her invisibility.

She gave a sort of disappointed expression, once she made herself visible. "There's something you have to see," she said quickly, before going invisible once again.

"Ursa, Pagan, be on your guard. I'll be back in a moment," Lucius announced before running after Ghost.

As they moved deeper into the cavern, the earth walls all around them became clearer and clearer. Even the living rock, Cerphin,  was stripped of its colour, leaving a glimmering water-coloured mineral behind.

It all sparkled brightly under the luminescence of the light runes like a tunnel of diamonds. Beautiful to say the least. However, the bestial energy that he was sensing from up ahead made it hard to appreciate all this.

"What is that?" he asked, slowing down. He was wary of confronting something so powerful when he was still recovering from exceeding his rena limits earlier.

"I think it's a Morrentor, the creatures furtong were talking about. But its… you have to see for yourself," Ghost replied, without turning visible.

"Hmm."

Lucius continued, albeit slowly, holding the green gem in his hand. He was hoping that it would make him recover his rena faster.

After walking a little longer, a pathway came into view on his right. It led into another, smaller cavern, this one pitch black, with not a single light rune in sight.

~Why would they keep a section completely dark?~ he thought to himself, trying to call out his crux. However, the moment he tried to release it, he felt a bright hot pain sear his mind.

~I should get used to using light runes instead of my crux for light,~ he thought to himself, before pulling out his knapsack -which was currently glowing brightly from all the light runes inside it.

After a moment, he pulled one out before slowly entering the dark cavern.

The moment he passed through the doorway, a strong pungent stench attacked his nose. It was acid against his throat, and was like a punch to the stomach, making him feel nauseous. It didn't help that his senses were enhanced.

~What is this sick smell?~ he thought to himself. It made his heart pound, it reminded him of the undead… of the necromancer.

Covering his nose and mouth, he used the light rune to inspect the room. There were a few minerals piled in one corner, and in the other was a-

"A Morrentor," Lucius whispered to himself.

But something was wrong with it.

It was trapped inside a cage made of dark orange wood, that glowed every so slightly. The creature in question was large, perhaps the size of an elephant, though its frame was skeletal. Like a bag of bones, barely covered by a thin layer of brown skin.

It had no eyes and a large maw that took up half its massive face. Right at the centre of its forehead was a brown gem, cracked at it through the middle, which oozed a pungent-smelling liquid.

It had three pairs of legs and massive razor-sharp claws on each foot that looked to be made completely out of precious gems. Four of these claws were missing, and left in their place were horrid wounds that smelled of rot.

The rock-like skin that covered its body was peeling off in some places, exposing white flesh that added to the odour within the room.

"Did you check the area for enemies?" Lucius asked into the darkness, his attention drawn to a glimmering puddle right below the Morrentor's cage.

"I checked. And nothing," Ghost replied from somewhere within the dark.

Lucius approached it, and once he was close, the creature began to move… or at least attempted to. It could hardly pick itself up, and even when it did, each movement was like a shiver.

It let out a weak bellow, that ended in a bubbling sound, as if it had mucus in its lungs.

"It seems you've been mistreated here," Lucius began, before moving towards the front of the cage to look the creature in the eyes.

"How long have they kept you like this?" he asked.

It stared at him weakly, a detached look in its eyes. It had clearly lost the will to fight a long time ago, and judging by the state it was in, Lucius was certain it would appreciate being put out of its misery.

"I can offer you something better than death," he continued, moving even closer to the cage before holding his palm out.

For a time, there was silence, and the creature just stared at him as if it were a corpse. Its mind was broken, perhaps saving it was impossible.

Lucius pulled his hand back, still staring at the creature.

~I don't have the resources to heal you right now, but once I do, you're coming with me whether you like it, or not,~ he thought to himself, before reluctantly moving away from the cage.

His eyes wandered throughout the dimly lit room, before landing on the minerals piled at the other corner of the room.

"Go get some of the others to collect the minerals," he ordered, "And anyone who has worked with a Morrentor before. I want to know why it was being kept in such bad conditions," he added.