Universal Slave

Luke opened his eyes.

He didn't know how much time had passed. He had been cultivating his spiritual energy without worrying about anything else, and now he had finally reached cultivation level 3.

He tried to move his body and noticed that the pain that had been weighing him down previously had disappeared.

The girl was still sleeping peacefully on his chest, she hadn't moved in the slightest during all the time that had passed.

Luke sat up, and moved the girl to one side. She seemed to be in a coma and showed no signs of waking up.

Luke gently slapped her face trying to get some response from her, but there was no change in her condition.

He took a blanket out of his backpack and covered her naked body. Then he crouched down next to her and placed his hand on the girl's forehead. A portion of his spiritual energy entered the forehead of the fainted girl and traveled through her body from head to toe.

"There doesn't seem to be any physical damage, she probably used a lot of mental energy. Either that or there's something wrong with her soul."

Basically, in this world a sick person could be affected in any of those three planes: body, mind and soul. Those three planes corresponded to the different major branches of superpowers.

"Syzy?" Luke exclaimed out loud, uncertainly.

However, there was no response.

"The system is still out of order. I should return to Lunaria for now. I have to see if the prisoners I teleported are okay."

Luke took advantage of the fact that the spider queen had died, and began to explore every corner of the cave. He found some natural treasures that he collected. But other than those few treasures there weren't too many valuable things in the place.

"Maybe the spider queen had some space-time storage. I refuse to believe that a sovereign could be so poor!" Luke thought with disdain.

In any case, even if the spider queen had such spatial storage, it had surely been destroyed when that little boy destroyed her body with a single attack.

"That child… His appearance was a miniature version of the god of light Codernum."

It was the first time in his three reincarnations that Luke came into contact with a figure of divine level. Gods in this world did not only exist in myths, but they had disappeared from the planet many years ago. Occasionally, the oracle of a church could come into contact with a god, but usually it was a contact that was limited to receiving one-way messages from the deity. Now that Luke had seen a god for the first time, and even if it was not their true form, he felt once again how tiny his power was in relation to those colossi.

"And this girl…"

She was probably a goddess too. Luke did not finish the sentence out loud.

Luke gathered his thoughts and sighed. It was time to get going.

He took the girl in his arms and began to head at high speed towards the spiritual herb plantations where he had previously seen the children of the forest working. Now that the spider queen was dead, the Arbori had regained their freedom. If the system was working, it would have increased the progress of the mission that consisted of helping that people. All he could hope was that when the system resumed its functions, it would recognize its progress and not bug out again.

He arrived at the large chamber that was full of herbs, but to his surprise he did not find a single person in the place. Only the plants around him remained unchanged.

Luke looked around and found traces of the Arbori leaving the place. The traces were still relatively fresh, so they should not have gone very far.

He hesitated for a moment but finally decided not to leave immediately.

He checked the gardens full of spiritual herbs, and collected some that were useful for refining medicine. If he had some spatial storage tool, he could collect all the medicines that were there, but his poverty limited the loot he could get from this place.

"Right now there are no magical beasts that have come close to this place, they are probably being cautious because of the sudden death of the spider queen. But it won't be long until one of those beasts makes the first move and comes to claim this place. When that happens, seizing these herbs will be difficult without a fight." Luke analyzed out loud.

Luke paid no more attention to the spiritual herbs. He turned around and headed at full speed in the same direction as the Arbori, following their trail.

It didn't take long for him to find them. The Arbori moved very slowly through the forest. Their movements were not very different from when they were being controlled by the spider queen. However, something caught his attention. Despite their low cultivation level and the fact that they were moving so slowly and were very vulnerable, none of the beasts in the vicinity tried to attack them. What's more, every time a magical beast spotted the Arbori, it was as if they had encountered the scariest enemy, and they fled at full speed.

This situation caught Luke's attention, but now the most important thing was to get closer to the Arbori to find out their situation.

He used his movement technique, which now that he was at a higher cultivation level did not require as much effort as before, and appeared in front of the group that was marching at a snail's pace.

When he saw the appearance of the Arbori, Luke immediately understood that something was wrong. Their expressions remained blank, exactly the same as when the spider queen was exploiting them like puppets. But the spider queen was already dead and could not control them!

The group completely ignored his presence and continued walking without stopping.

Luke frowned, approached the person in front of the group and tried to knock him out with a punch. However, the Arbori did not flinch, and did not even try to dodge his attack, he simply took the blow falling to the ground from the impact, then got back up and continued walking like a zombie.

Indeed, their movements seemed like those of a zombie controlled by dark magic, but they were clearly alive. Perhaps it was some kind of mind control.

Luke explored the individual's body using his spiritual energy. However, there were no anomalies in their body or spiritual energy. Then he used a technique to project his consciousness into the Arbori's consciousness. However, he could not do it, he had finally found the problem.

"It seems to be some kind of seal, it is similar in structure to the seal of enslavement, but its effects are different," Luke muttered thoughtfully.

He concentrated spiritual energy into the tips of his fingers, and then embedded his hand into the Arbori's chest. The fingers penetrated the flesh and numerous symbols began to appear on its skin. It was a seal that was inscribed in the soul of the individual, and was now made visible thanks to Luke's attack. In the seal that had been imposed on this poor guy, there was a trace of divine energy similar to that found on the stick he had obtained from the system. It was barely noticeable, but it made Luke frown even more. For a moment he wondered if he should undo the seal.

Certainly, with Luke's current abilities, he could undo the seal without much trouble, but if that attracted the attention of someone who could use divine energy… Perhaps the gain would be less than the losses. After all, right now he didn't have the system to assist him in case of emergency.

Before he could make a decision on the matter, the little girl who had been sleeping in his arms woke up.

She opened her eyes curiously and looked at the Arbori in front of her. Looking at the symbols that were shining on the individual's skin and that contained a bit of divine energy, her eyes lit up.

The little girl left her comfortable shelter in Luke's arms and instantly appeared in front of the Arbori, opened her mouth and sucked in the air. Suddenly, the symbols on the man's body began to distort and completely dissolved. A ball of energy emerged from the Arbori and was immediately sucked in by the little girl, who showed an expression of delight, as if she were eating the most delicious delicacy.

Luke watched the situation in amazement, while the girl repeated the process with the other Arbori that made up the group. Once there was no more energy left to absorb, the girl returned to Luke's arms and once again sank into a deep sleep.

The Arbori were released from the seal that restricted their spirits, but they did not return to normal immediately. Instead, they fainted one by one as the seals were removed. When it was all over, the only person who remained conscious in the place was Luke, who did not know how to feel about what had happened.

Luke sensed a change in the surroundings. The magical beasts that were previously dodging the Arbori group like the plague were now cautiously approaching. It was dangerous to remain in the middle of the magical beasts' territory for a long time.

He used his spiritual energy to form ropes, it was a technique similar to the one the spider queen used. Now that his cultivation level was higher he could use a greater variety of useful techniques.

He wrapped the ropes around all the unconscious people, and then began to move at high speed towards the city of the Lunari. In the air, all the Arbori were floating behind him, held by the ropes.

..........................................

In the dark underground prison of Lunaria. Flynn looked with red eyes at the battered man who was lying on the floor of the cell in front of him.

The classic robe of the church of the dragon goddess was covered in blood and footprints. He himself had seen how a group of guards had kicked him until the young man was unconscious.

Flynn felt guilty, if he had not said the man's name, he would not have been locked up with them in the prison, and he would not have to suffer a beating from the guards every day. The young novice had even been subjected to torture by the city guards.

Flynn couldn't understand it. Why, even though they had managed to escape death deep in the territory of the magical beasts, did they have to suffer so much in their own hometown? Didn't they have rights or dignity just because they weren't nobles?!

Flynn looked around at everything. His brothers, who were spread out in several cells and hadn't eaten in days. The other Lunari who had been rescued from the cave along with him, all of whom were downcast, plunged in despair. And above all, Flynn looked at Elian Calan, who looked like he would die at any moment.

For a moment, he wished that the human who had saved them in the cave would appear before him once more, and once again free them from the suffering they were enduring.

Flynn shook his head. No. He couldn't continue to depend on other people forever. What would happen the next time something happened and no one was there to help him? Would he just have to accept his death? Would he have to watch his brothers die without being able to do anything?!

He clenched his fists so hard that his nails dug into his palm, and a little blood oozed out of the wounds.

He felt no pain, right now he was overcome by a feeling he had never had before. For many years he had suffered countless injustices. Whenever there was not enough food because of the corruption of the orphanage managers, he simply smiled and tried hard to find a job and earn money to put food on the table.

Whenever someone looked down on him for growing up in the slums and not having parents, he was optimistic and worked hard to let everyone know he was a responsible person and eager to get ahead.

Always, always, always!

He had always lived like an animal, bowing his head, trying to survive. He was tired, and he was furious!

For the first time in his life he felt a rage he had never allowed himself to feel, and for the first time in his life he wished for power.

"If I was strong I could help my brothers. If I had enough power, I wouldn't have to depend on anyone, or explain myself. If I was strong, I would be free!" Flynn thought inside his mind, he seemed to be reciting a mantra, as if hypnotizing himself.

In the dark cell of the underground prison, a faint light began to shine.

Little Flynn, who was shaking with rage, was enveloped in a thin layer of light, almost imperceptible. For the first time, something inside him had awakened.

His eyes, which were looking at the miseries of the world without blinking, seemed to take the shape of bright stars.