Universal Slave

"This should be the place," Luke said, looking at the entrance to the cave in front of him.

He had finally reached the epicenter of the territory, and the most powerful magical beast in the area should be here. So far, he had been able to advance without any obstacles, so when he reached the cave, he hesitated for a moment whether to enter or not.

Going into enemy territory blindly, especially when he knew it was the territory of a beast with a power superior to that of the elemental monkey, was at the very least dangerous. And it could be considered by the most cautious people as downright suicide.

Luke tried, whenever possible, to be cautious.

"Let's observe the situation first."

He looked for an appropriate place nearby and set up a defensive formation. Then, using all the scarce mana he had, he created a small golem about 30 cm tall. It was a small homunculus that looked a little funny.

"I'll explore the terrain first, and if it's not too dangerous I'll go in and explore in person."

Luke sat down on the ground and closed his eyes. The little homunculus came to life and began to move at high speed, and in just a few seconds it had already crossed the entrance to the cave.

As the golem advanced, the terrain that had previously been empty on the system map was filled in.

Luke could observe everything his golem saw, since his consciousness was inside. He could even use his Xylara eye remotely.

The first section of the cave did not present anything interesting, it was simply a dark and empty tunnel. The only thing remarkable was, perhaps, the high density of spiritual energy in the environment, which was even greater than the density present in Lunaria. Or at least in the areas of Lunaria that he had visited. Perhaps in the royal palace, the situation was different.

Very soon, however, he came to a fork in the road. Looking at the two paths in front of him, Luke decided to take the one on the right. In that direction, he could sense multiple presences, very faintly. While in the other direction he could only sense a single presence, which possessed a terrifying combat power.

He walked along the dark tunnel and came to a chamber covered in vegetation. The spiritual energy there was even more concentrated. Luke fantasized about eliminating the beast that owned this cave, and taking over the place. If he cultivated in this environment his cultivation would advance much faster!

But it was just a fantasy, with his current power, if he faced the beast he would probably end up very badly injured. He always had the confidence of being able to escape using his multiple methods, but it was better to avoid danger if possible.

He looked at the plants present, they could be considered natural treasures. If these plants were sold at auction, they would undoubtedly fetch exorbitant prices. Luke proceeded cautiously without trying to obtain any of the plants, he was on a reconnaissance mission. If the beast became aware of his presence and destroyed his golem, although it would not put his life at risk, it would cause great mental damage. After all, it was his consciousness that was inside the homunculus, and if it was destroyed it would be like experiencing the feeling of dying! A person with a low level of spiritual attribute would lose his mind in such a situation, becoming a fool who could not even control his most basic bodily functions.

Luke's spiritual attribute was high, he himself did not know how high, since the system did not give him accurate information. But what he had verified through his reincarnations was that this attribute was not reset with each reincarnation, but was cumulative. In his previous life, the attribute was already listed in the system as "??" and when the system classified something like that it was because it was beyond the reach of the current power of the system. If his system were of a higher level he could come to know those details, but in the meantime they remained a mystery. Luke had fantasized several times about the power the system could wield if he raised it to the highest possible level. But unfortunately, as the system leveled up it became more and more difficult to continue advancing. To level up the system Luke needed to complete quests, but high level quests were completely impossible for him. Some quests at that level were ridiculous things like killing gods or similar.

The little golem advanced through the large enclosure filled with natural treasures without opposition. However, when he reached the center he saw something that caught his attention.

"Children of the forest?" Luke who was watching through the eyes of his golem raised his eyebrows in surprise.

The "children of the forest" was a way that people on the continent used to refer to a particular race, the Arbori. This race lived deep within the great forbidden forest, in a different area than the Lunaris.

In the eyes of humans, they were a strange race. No one had ever entered their realm, but it was said that these beings were born from a great sacred tree. They grew on the branches like fruits, and when they matured enough they reached their anthropomorphic form. This race had a great affinity with the earth and plants. In addition, there were a lot of rumors about their other miraculous abilities; it was said that they could increase the quality of the elixirs produced by alchemists using a liquid they produced in their own body, that they possessed a very strong life energy that was the best tonic for a long life, that they were loyal for life once their recognition was earned, etc.

In short, the stories related to the Arbori were full of this type of things. To put it simply, they were highly coveted by all the human nobles who lived outside the forest.

As the Arbori lived deep within the forest, one could rarely find one of them in the human realms, which added a layer of mystery to their already mysterious existence.

Now, in front of his eyes, there were dozens of Arboris. They worked silently, tending to the plants, pouring spiritual energy and removing the impurities that appeared in them.

Seeing this group of Arboris working tirelessly with empty eyes like puppets, Luke felt an inexplicable sense of pity and anger within him.

He himself was surprised at the feelings that had suddenly appeared.

However, Luke was a rational guy, or at least he tried to be. That was the way he had found to maintain a stable state of mind, otherwise he would have lost his sanity during his first reincarnation. During those long years of loneliness.

That rationality helped him quell the feelings welling up inside him. Whatever was happening, the most important thing was to stay calm, assess the situation, and formulate the safest possible plan of action.

*Ding*

The system alert sounded.

*New mission available*

*Mission 10 - Are you made of wood?:

The Arbori have lost their leader, with no one to protect them they have been enslaved by neighboring tribes and their sacred tree has been taken from them.

Objective: Help the Arbori. Free them from their slavery and regain control of their sacred tree.

Reward: Gratitude from the Arbori, ??, system level increase, stick * 1, natural treasure * 1.

Arbori freed: 0

Sacred tree recovered: 0/1 *

Luke looked at the information on the system screen and felt that this was a good mission. The system, after all, proclaimed itself to be a tool that was there to fulfill its deepest desires. The missions it usually issued were erratic and dark. This time did not seem to be any different, but Luke simply felt within himself that this was a good mission. A mission that he wanted to complete at all costs.

Luke stopped near one of the Arbori who was watering a small plot of land where a few small sprouts were growing. Despite being in a dark cave, the plants that grew here were not all of a gloomy attribute. On the contrary, the vast majority of these plants could never grow in this environment. Surely the intervention of the Arbori was indispensable for the maintenance of these plants.

Luke picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it at the Arbori who had his back to him.

The Arbori moved his arm at high speed and intercepted the stone that was headed for his back. Then with a swift movement he threw the stone in the same direction it had come from.

The stone hit the small golem and was absorbed by its body, which was made of earth.

The Arbori looked in the direction where the golem was with his empty gaze. He remained for a moment looking in its direction, then turned around and continued working.

Obviously, Luke had protected his golem with a powerful illusion. If the beast that controlled this territory saw him directly, he could probably notice the illusion, as for any other entity of a lower level than such a sovereign, it was impossible for them to discover the homunculus under his control, unless they specialized in detection or had knowledge of dark magic.

"Just as I suspected" Luke said with his gaze fixed on the back of the Arbori.

Behind its neck, he could see a thin thread of spiritual energy that was connected to its body.

"It is a remote control technique" Luke concluded.

The Arbori who were working with blank stares as slaves were mere puppets. While they were alive, they were not conscious. It was a similar technique to the one he was using to control the golem, but it was not the same technique.

To begin with, using living beings as puppets, and so many at once… The spiritual power needed to perform such a feat was incredibly high!

In addition, these Arbori had spiritual cultivation, although their levels were low, it was still difficult for anyone to remotely control them like that.

"It is probably the beast that owns this territory."

Luke felt a headache coming on at the thought that he would have to face such a beast if he wanted to free these enslaved Arboris.

"For the time being, I will continue investigating, these Arbori are in no danger here. It will not be too late to rescue them once I have a complete picture of the situation in this cave."

Luke controlled the golem and continued moving forward.

He left behind the large chamber filled with vegetation, and the pitiful Arbori.

He passed through an area where there was a large underground lake and finally arrived at a new chamber where a large number of small insects dimly illuminated the environment with their shiny bodies.

He observed the situation inside the place and frowned. A large number of people were lying on the ground, some were unconscious, others were motionless with their eyes open and an expression of panic. And others were already dead.

The latter had met a very miserable end. Creatures that seemed to be insect larvae grew from their corpses. Apparently these individuals had been used as incubators, and after the birth of the larvae they had become the food of the unpleasant creatures.

Luke could imagine the suffering they had to endure before finally dying.

At the same time that Luke was observing the miserable prisoners distributed in that chamber, a child who was in the distance, was watching him with surprise. Despite not possessing any spiritual cultivation, he could see the little homunculus that had a funny appearance, who was inspecting the surroundings. A sense of hope rekindled within the little lunari.