The Homeseeker: Elemental Adventurer LitRPG [Isekai] (Series Complete!)

Rep and Zalan spun in place, Rep's dim flame illuminating the ghastly monsters looming over them. The light danced to a terrifying tune as each Earthenbeast closed in. Rep began rummaging in his pocket as Zalan waved his sword ahead of them to try and intimidate the creatures. They didn't react to the weapon. Each step made Zalan's bones tremble.

Rep spun around in place and blasted all four monsters with fire, trying to kill them the same way that he defeated the last run-in with Earthenbeasts. But it was no use. These monsters were made of different minerals. They weren't going to be dried out by fire. But they hesitated at the sight of the larger flames, taking tiny steps back. The two spiders on the Obsidian Earthenbeast were shielded by its quick-acting arms.

"So much for fighting," Rep said.

"We should try focusing on one of them to see how strong they are," Zalan suggested, pointing his sword at the Ruby Earthenbeast closest to them.

"And be beaten into a pulpy mess if we are wrong to challenge them at all?" Rep said, appalled. "Absolutely not. This is the reason I have the Homeseeker, to save our lives in these extreme cases without stopping to think of insane ideas."

Rep pulled out the Homeseeker, looking in the light to find the activation trigger. The moment it came out of his pocket, one of the spiders on the Obsidian Earthenbeast's shoulder unleashed a wad of web. Zalan didn't realize it was focused on them until the Artifact zipped out of Rep's hand. The giant spider's web expertly snatched it from Rep's palm. Gasping, Rep reached out to the web as it flew across, sticking to the leg of the Emerald Earthenbeast. Zalan looked at Rep's hand, then to the Earthenbeast, a horror coming across his face.

"Was that the Homeseeker?" Zalan asked, already knowing the answer.

"Quickly! We must take it from that one's leg!" Rep tossed off his pack of food and charged at it with a flame imbued sword.

Again, the monster spiders shot webs and Rep stopped suddenly, his leg stretching out behind him. His right foot had been pinned to the ground by the powerfully sticky substance. Zalan dropped his pack and ran toward him immediately to help him get the webbing off of him. Rep looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Zalan, no!" Rep threw a flame at his friend's face and Zalan came to a surprised halt.

A massive black fist crashed down just ahead of where Zalan stood. It rumbled inches from his face, shaking the mines with enough force to rattle Zalan's brain. He took a few steps back in shock, recognizing how close to death he just came. Gaining a surge of adrenaline, he gripped his hilt and swung his blade at the monster's fist with all his might.

The sword glanced off weakly. He didn't have the Strength to do damage to the Obsidian Earthenbeast. Especially not without an Elemental Power to imbue his blade. The Obsidian Earthenbeast raised its fist away, possibly preparing for another strike. Zalan considered himself lucky that Earthenbeasts were so slow to attack. A pack of Shellbacks or Boznoks would have killed them by now.

"Rep! Are you okay?" Zalan asked as the fist was raised.

"I am fine, it did not injure me! Quickly, the Homeseeker!" Rep said, pulling desperately at the web pinning him to the ground.

Zalan nodded and sprinted forward to the wad of web that held the Artifact to the Emerald monster's leg.

"On your left!" Rep screamed behind him.

Without looking, Zalan dove to the right and felt the powerful collision of rock against the ground, causing him to lose his balance as he ran forward. He tripped and slammed into the green Earthenbeast with the Homeseeker attached to it. Pushing himself back to his feet, he grabbed the webs stuck to its legs and pulled hard, using all his might to free the Artifact.

The Earthenbeast looked down at Zalan in silence, seemingly amused by his struggle. With a massive thrust, it kicked its leg forward. Zalan went airborne, losing all sense of direction as he spun once before crashing into the ground near Rep.

"Did you get it?" Rep asked desperately.

Zalan saw webbing from the Earthenbeast's leg stuck to his hands. Looking between them quickly, he saw that he wasn't able to pull off the Artifact. He looked back at the Emerald Earthenbeast, the webs on the Homeseeker marginally disconnected. Given enough time, it might fall off on its own. But they didn't have time to spare.

"I got nothing!" Zalan said urgently.

"Watch out!" Rep shoved Zalan aside and a web came plopping down between them.

"Take out the spiders. I'll go and get the Artifact."

"No! I can not attack the spiders and watch out for you at the same time!"

Proving his point, Rep pulled him down hard as a jeweled, red Earthenbeast fist swung overhead. Rep was able to use his flame to see the situation a lot better than Zalan. He controlled the source of light. Zalan's reflexes were stunted in the darkness. He felt so useless. Both his lack of Strength and lack of Elemental Power left Rep having to take care of him during every attack.

"Fine, I won't try to get the Artifact yet. But hurry! Get the spiders!" Zalan said.

Zalan knelt down to roll off the remaining bit of webbing on Rep's foot. Rep blasted fireballs at the two spiders on the Obsidian Earthenbeast's shoulders. To Rep and Zalan's surprise, the monster raised its black arms and protected the two creatures on its shoulders. It knew when they were in danger and took the hit for them. Zalan thought it was a fluke the first time, but this was a truly symbiotic relationship.

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"Maybe try attacking one of the Earthenbeasts with your imbued sword. You might be able to hurt one with a mix of Strength and Wisdom. And if there are less of them, we might have an easier time getting the Artifact," Zalan suggested.

"Fine! The diamond one, it is furthest from the monster spiders! Stay close."

Rep and Zalan charged at the Diamond Earthenbeast together. First Zalan sliced at its leg, hoping the different makeup of creatures would allow him to do damage. His sword bounced off harmlessly. He raised to strike it again, but his balance was thrown off when a fat glob of spider web stuck to the center of the blade. Rep tried next, cutting its leg with a searing hot blade only to deal it a slight scratch. It was next to nothing, but a lot more than Zalan could do. The diamond monster looked unfazed, but enough hits might do enough damage that they could get around it without fearing for their lives.

Rep raised his arms for a second flame-imbued strike, then suddenly an explosion went off above him. A giant spider had fired its web at the fire-encompassed sword, causing the web to detonate on contact. The force of the blast threw Rep backward and his sword forward, disarming him. His blade landed on the other side of the Earthenbeasts surrounding them. He was cut off from his weapon.

Screaming in frustration, Rep threw another two fireballs at the spiders. The Obsidian Earthenbeast protected them again without hesitation. The other Earthenbeasts seemed disturbed by the explosion, waiting especially long before looking back down at Rep and Zalan.

"What now?" Zalan asked, terror enveloping him. His heart cracked loudly against his chest. Their odds looked terrible. And they had no means of escape.

Rep looked at the monsters towering over them, long shadows casting behind them in the pitch black surroundings. He bent backward suddenly when a spider web came his way, plopping onto the ground and giving them even less space to maneuver. Zalan was beginning to feel claustrophobic on top of the fear. The Earthenbeasts were so close. If they had the mind to all strike at the same time, Rep and Zalan were dead.

"Run to the Emerald Earthenbeast for the Homeseeker!" Rep said, breaking into a run.

"We already tried that," Zalan said, immediately running with Rep.

"Activate it, even if it is still attached to the monster. Remain holding on to the monster and we will be able to escape when the Artifact warps us home. It is our only chance!"

"Got it! Here, take this!" Zalan tossed his sword to Rep before he could protest.

Rep grabbed it out of the air and imbued it with scorching hot flame, waving it around to ward off the other Earthenbeasts. They seemed slightly apprehensive to approach the intense light, and hesitated to make their next moves. Zalan was glad they had just a moment of reprieve. Zalan got to the Emerald Earthenbeast first and tried to find the trigger for the Homeseeker within the webs. The spiderweb was immensely thick, and he fumbled clumsily as his hands stuck to the material.

"I can't find the button!" Zalan exclaimed in a quick panic.

"Hurry!" Rep demanded, equally terrified.

Zalan began to tear away at the webs in search of the button to trigger the Artifact. The Emerald Earthenbeast tried to kick Zalan again, but he was quick to dive out of the way this time. The Earthenbeast seemed upset over missing and reacted faster than usual. It sideswiped at both humans with a massive green arm.

"Watch out!" Rep yelled, but was too late, himself. He was struck by the massive attack, smacked away.

Zalan knelt down, not knowing which direction the attack was coming from. The arm only delivered a glancing blow to him, but it was enough to do significant damage to his shoulder. He was shoved ruthlessly down, dragging a few feet against the ground before recovering and jumping to his feet. Blood spilled down the side of his face.

"Rep?" Zalan called blindly, he could barely tell up from down. He groaned and shoved himself to his feet even as his vision lagged to catch up.

"Zalan." Rep's voice came unsteadily.

Zalan spun around toward the sound of his voice. He blinked enough to get a good view of his friend. Rep was in the dead center of the four Earthenbeasts, all of whom were focusing on the flame he produced. Both of his legs and an arm were pinned to the ground by several globs of webbing. There wouldn't be enough time to get him up before another Earthenbeast punched at him. Zalan's eyes went wide.

"Zalan, listen to me. Take the sword," Rep tossed Zalan his sword back and Zalan picked it up instantaneously.

"What's the plan?" Zalan asked, desperately.

"Run. I will ignite the webs and it will stun the Earthenbeasts for a second. Run between their legs at that moment and escape," Rep said seriously.

"And leave you?" Zalan said. "No! I can't do that. How will I even get out of here without you? It's too dark!"

More shots of webs attached to Rep's body. The spiders must have decided that he was the bigger threat and focused on immobilizing him. Rep could barely raise his head off the ground, pulling against webs on his neck. The Obsidian Earthenbeast was lifting a fist.

"Zalan! Please! You have to go back home! I owe that to you! I never should have brought you here!"

"Rep, another plan! Come on, there has to be another way!" Zalan begged.

"You were my best friend, Zalan. I sincerely hope you find peace." Rep smiled at him.

The Obsidian Earthenbeast's fist began crashing down.

Still smiling, Rep began glowing red, imbuing his entire body in flame.

The explosion was colossal, throwing Zalan high off his feet and blinding him. He smashed into something earthlike behind him, but his vision was blocked and his ears were ringing. He had no idea whether he collided with a wall or an Earthenbeast.

"Rep!" Zalan screamed loudly, but couldn't even hear his own voice. The eruption had temporarily deafened him.

Both blind and deaf, Zalan had no idea where he was pointed. If he ran now, he wouldn't know which way was the way back outside. The last thing etched into Zalan's mind was Rep's smile, the same look that Fran and Xavier had the moment they passed. Zalan screamed, hating the visual of Rep.

The last thing he was told was to run. He stood quickly, fulfilling his closest friend's final request. His head swam with disorientation and pain, so much that he tripped and fell after taking three steps. Pushing hard against the immense pain and fatigue, Zalan got back to his feet and sprinted at full speed. Somehow, he ended up running ahead without immediately bumping into any monsters.

His legs ached as he ran with all his might. His ears soon came back into operation, the sound of his panicked breathing and stumbling footsteps filling his head. If his eyes came back into use, he had no idea. He had no source of light anymore, completely at the mercy of the Depths of Despair. He waved his sword ahead of him and he ran. He was using it both as a blind stick to stop him from crashing into walls and to try and cut down any monsters approaching from nearby. They could be anywhere. He had no means of knowing. Sounds crept at every corner.

Zalan screamed in anguish for his friend. Find peace? Zalan wouldn't even be able to fulfill his last request if he tried his absolute hardest. He had no idea where he was, nor which direction he was headed. With a sinking sensation in his heart, he was almost certain that he was going deeper into the Depths of Despair rather than back to the entrance.