Reincarnated As A Plant Life

*[Lucius]

As Lucius strode through the hallways, he noticed the leader of the bear-men standing guard at one of the tunnel checkpoints.

At this moment everyone was already prepared, they only awaited word from Hannibal and the other scouts to proceed to the surface.

"Allocate one of your kinsmen to this post, I want you to walk with me," Lucius said as he came to stop, regarding the leader of the bear-men.

"My lord," the bear-man leader whispered as he bowed, before turning to command one of his kinsmen to take over for him.

The two of them ventured forward, deeper into the tunnels that led to the surface. For a moment there was silence, and the two merely regarded all the other creatures that they were passing by on their journey.

"What do you think of this commune that my children have created? You can be honest, I'm not like Pagan, I'm not unreasonable," Lucius said blankly, now regarding a group of Cynomys kits who were playing in one of the tunnels to their left.

He hadn't seen many children here, though he supposed it only made sense; since to the creatures of the Immaculate Forest they were nothing but rebels at best, though it was likely they were widely regarded as a terrorist group.

"I think that the Lords have done well with what resources they have. Especially since our rivals are the Forest Council itself," the bear-man said carefully.

Lucius took special note of how the bear-man leader had used the word 'our' instead of 'your'.

"Your sentence seems incomplete. You said we've done well with what resources we have, do you think we could do better?" Lucius asked. Though he already knew the answer to this question all too well.

If he and his children had chosen to be more aggressive, perhaps they would've made it further by now. Still, even if he could rewind time, he probably wouldn't have taken that route anyway.

When he had first gotten here he had very little information on the world, and was finding it difficult just to survive. Above all that, he had no real reason for doing anything, besides keeping the cute creatures he had encountered safe.

Perhaps after the discovery of the necromancer, he found drive. And not playing more aggressively earlier on was something that haunted him till this day. He had to admit, he was out of his element, there was more he could've done, things he shouldn't have done. 

However that was all in the past, this was going to be their second shot, and with a larger portion of evolved members, they would have a larger safety net.

This didn't mean he was going to play things over-aggressively.. guerilla warfare would be a nice way to put the tactics he would be using in the upcoming campaigns.

"I wouldn't dare say such a thin-" the bear-man leader was about to say, before Lucius raised his hands in a 'halting' gesture.

"I can tell when lies are spoken. There isn't a bigger insult to me than when one of my children lies to my face," Lucius added.

A white lie course.

However, this served well as a two-pronged attack.

On the one front, the bear-man would be wary of lying to him, and no doubt rumour would spread of this fake lie detection ability. With the notion of 'lighted one hocus-pocus' going around, it was likely that they would believe him without question.

And besides, anyone dumb enough to test it would probably be squashed in the bud by one of Pagan's fanatics.

On the second front, he was making the bear-man leader feel like an integral part of his family. Something that would come with time of course, though there was more to gain if it could come even faster. Lucius didn't doubt that an evolved bear-man would be a needed powerhouse for the battles to come.

"A-A truthseer, of-ofcourse," the bear-man stuttered in shock, before quickly relaxing. No doubt the 'lighted One hocus pocus' buff coming into effect.

~Truthseer? Yet another legend?~ Lucius thought to himself. Though he was curious as to what exactly the legend was about, he couldn't very well ask the bear-man leader without putting himself into question.

So he decided to put his questions on hold for now. He would find some other time to bring it up without arousing suspicion.

"I will speak my lord, however I ask you forgive my crudeness. My people do not have a tradition of speaking, we are children of battle," the bear-man leader warned after some thought. 

~I don't doubt that,~ Lucius thought to himself as he eyed the multiple scars that littered the brown fur covering the bear-man's body.

"You can speak comfortably," Lucius replied.

"Lord Hannibal is a good leader, however from the battles he has led us through, he seems too meek- hmm, perhaps worried would be a better word. There were times we could've taken more, yet he prioritized safety. Indeed I do not blame him for this, however, it is not something me and my people are used to," the bear-man began, his eyes faced forward in thought.

"Perhaps Lord Pagan is better in this, in the battles he has led us through we took everything there was to offer. Much of Lord Asclepius's items were from the spoils of Lord Pagan's battles. Still, Lord Pagan's goals are sometimes unclear. I-I do not doubt his power of course," the bear-man leader stuttered, his body shivering each time he mentioned Pagan's name.

"However, there are times he seems to act like the maddened warriors of legend. Sometimes he attacks a place, and destroys everything, spoils included," the bear-man leader continued.

~I see, there's no balance. It only makes sense since I wasn't here... though Hannibal is leader on paper, Pagan has no obligation to listen to him. In fact, I doubt they go on missions together... they aren't there to balance each other's vices,~ Lucius thought to himself.

At this point, they were already at the last tunnel checkpoint before the exit to the surface. Lucius could see Pagan in the distance, staring out into the sunlight that crept into the tunnels.

"Perhaps we will finish this conversation later. For now, follow me, you'll be my personal bodyguard from now on," Lucius said, before walking towards Pagan.

He wanted to form a strong relationship with the bear-man leader as fast as possible. The sooner the bear-man leader evolved, the better. 

"Yes my lord," the bear-man leader replied.