Reincarnated As A Plant Life - Chapter 234: Eikthyrnir Compound [Mini-Arc] (4)

At the moment, absorbing the guard’s core seemed like the most logical, and obvious thing to do

~No… this isn’t right,~ Lucius thought to himself, fighting back his urges.

In fact, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched for him to think that this was a sort of addiction he was beginning to develop.

~That much pain will definitely wake him up. And I’m not going to use such a cruel method to kill an undeserving opponent,~ he thought, almost as if he were convincing himself of his own reasoning.

In the end, he decided to absorb the life force of everything else in the room – which was quite a small amount in comparison, as most of the items here had already been severed from whatever life force they had been a part of in the past.

Still, the energy was enough to take off some of the fatigue that came from using his poison earlier.

~There’s nothing of value in this room,~ he thought to himself, as he searched through the final pile of materials.

Just then, he sensed someone approaching.

He quickly looked around the room before rushing to hide behind one of the larger stacks of wooden logs in a corner of the room.

“Huh? Where did he go?” a voice asked from the stairway.

Lucius recognized it as the second guard.

The guard’s footsteps began echoing closer towards his hiding spot.

“Are you sleeping on the job again?” the guard asked, a hint of concern audible in his voice.

Lucius side-eyed the corner in which he had hidden the first guard. Sure he was well hidden behind a massive roll of sinew, however all it would take was for the second guard to approach it from an angle for him to notice.

“Master Eiknyr wants everyone to help with clean up before Lord Eikthyrnir comes home. If he counts that we’re less than usual… well you know what he’s like,” the second guard continued, his footsteps now only a few inches in front of the stack that Lucius was hiding behind.

“Come on, I heard you moving around a few moments ago. Stop messing arou-”

*

The guards eyes shot open once it noticed what looked like a tail wiggling around behind one of the stacks of wood.

However, just a moment later, he felt something wrap around his throat and tighten.

The tail had just been a distraction!

He tried to scream for help, but the vyse around his throat wouldn’t even allow him to breathe.

He pulled out his crux, hoping that his access to magic would scare off the intruder. But this only seemed to make the vyse tighten even more.

~What kind of creature is this?~ he thought to himself.

He felt like a twig in this vyse, he could feel a sort of restrained violence as it tightened around his neck in an almost calculated manner.

All those years at the councillor’s magic acquisition clan, for him to be killed in such a lacklustre manner.

His only solace in all this was that he wouldn’t have to hide Master Eiknyr’s secrets any longer. There was a distinct line between natural needs and the horrors that he was committing.

Who knows? Perhaps this was judgement.

And so, his vision dimmed, and he felt his mind drift off into nothingness.

*

~One less to worry about,~ Lucius thought to himself, as he used his remaining lengths of vine-rope to hogtie and gag the guard.

~This Master Eiknyr guy sounds like a complete douchebag,~ he thought to himself, as he moved the now restrained guard to the same hidden corner as his comrade.

~Still, he’s saving me a lot of trouble by calling all his men,~ he continued.

This also meant that Eiknyr probably wasn’t an intellectual threat. What with him calling all the guards on duty to clean up what was probably his mess.

Though Lucius had to admit, he was now a little curious as to what exactly this mess was all about.

*

“They’re gone,” he whispered to himself after sitting around for a few minutes. All of the energy signals coming from the second and first floor had descended lower into the mansion.

~There’s a basement?~ he thought to himself, as he made his way downstairs towards the second floor.

This floor, much like the third was also a storage area. However, this time, it seemed to be a storage for various seeds, fruits, and herbs.

Of course, Lucius filled his pouch with whatever spoils it could carry. By the time he was done, the pouch was now bulging, threatening to rip at the seams if he attempted to stuff in anymore.

~If I find anything more valuable, I’ll ditch the tunic,~ he thought to himself.

It would’ve been nice if he could just wear it. Sadly, although the venari were taller than him, they lacked his volume, meaning that he would just rip through them.

Besides, the material they were made from would hinder his movement.

~I’m sure this’ll fit Alpha, maybe a little too snuggly, but it’ll do,~ he thought. At least until he could figure out and imitate the sewing techniques they had used on it.

After he was satisfied that nothing else of real value was on the second, floor he slowly made his way to the first.

“I can see why the guards weren’t hesitant to leave everything here unattended,” he thought to himself, as he took in the scenery.

The first floor, although not a storage room, was something of a meeting area.

Multiple venari statues decorated the room. These ones were made of expensive black wood, polished so well that Lucius could almost see his reflection on a few of them.

At the centre of the room was an obsidian-black marble table, also polished to perfection, with matching chairs on all four sides.

One of the chairs had runes engraved into it, and several mana stones etched into those runes.

That was no doubt Lord Eikthyrnir’s personal chair.

~What did I expect? This is the councillor’s mansion after all,~ Lucius thought to himself, as he moved towards the chair.

~Still, as alluring as these mana stones are… these runes are rather-~ he thought to himself, taking a step back from the chair.

Although he had never seen anything like it, his body was urging him to move away. Simply looking at the runes gave a creepy feeling, in fact, for a moment he had forgotten to breathe as he tried to make sense of what all the runic depictions meant.

~Is that what I was missing from the magic weapons? Runes?~ he thought to himself.