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

Zalan nibbled pensively at his cooked eye-monster tentacle. It tasted like canned tuna that had been warmed up in a microwave. Rep tore at his share of the food ravenously. Whether it was because he enjoyed it or he was that hungry, Zalan couldn't tell. Finnegan had yet to eat yet, holding his food at arm's length.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Finnegan asked for the third time.

"Yeah, we've had plenty of monster meat before," Zalan said.

"It is some of the best meat the realm has to offer," Rep said with his mouth full.

"I am just concerned about its contents," Finnegan said uncertainly.

"Yeah, I was like that too. But it goes through fine. Just like any other food," Zalan assured him.

"I am not concerned about my digestion… much… But I am concerned about the monsterization properties," Finnegan said.

"The what?" Zalan asked.

Rep's chewing slowed as he looked up to listen closely.

"The properties of monsterization. Have you not heard of this? 'He who eats his monsters take care lest he thereby become the monster.' It is a very famous saying," Finnegan said.

"I have never heard of this." Rep took another unconcerned bite of food.

"I don't think that's the right quote," Zalan scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Plus we've seen monsters in eggs before. I think the monsters have ways of making more monsters similar to animals. You know, like reproduction and circle of life. People don't just spontaneously become monsters. At least not in the literal sense."

"You speak as though you know so much, but you brought down the tentacle monster upon us," Finnegan said, pointing with his roasted food for added effect. "If you had left the roof of the mines alone, I would not have been at the plate of a monster's meal. Again!"

"Do not speak ill of Zalan's education. He is the only person I know that can read better than any scholar in the realm," Rep chastised Finnegan.

"Surely another one of his various lies," Finnegan rolled his eyes. He looked at Zalan sharply, with a challenge. "How does one spell 'Finnegan?'"

"Ummm… F-I-N-N-E-G-A-N? Something like that?" Zalan shrugged.

Finnegan looked stunned at the speed of Zalan's response. To Zalan's amazement, it seemed enough for Finnegan to take a tiny, reluctant bite of the tentacle. His face of disgust rolled quickly into delight. He took another, much larger bite.

"It is good!" Finnegan admitted excitedly. "We should have gotten more!"

"We can think about getting more food when we're out of here," Zalan said. "We should keep moving before I fall asleep and we get ambushed by more monsters in the darkness."

Zalan stood, along with Rep and Finnegan. They could feel the fatigue gnawing at their muscles and bones, but they were much better off now that they had some food in their bodies. Zalan wondered how nutritious a monster meal was. Could it be used as a replacement for regular protein?

"We need a new plan," Zalan said as he got moving.

"How so?" Finnegan asked.

"We keep fleeing and running in the mines, leading us either deeper or further from the entrance. We don't know. We need to stick to a path. Otherwise we might be retracing our steps and staying here longer," Zalan said.

"We should mark the walls," Rep said.

"I thought you said we didn't want to wake any Earthenbeasts that might be in the walls," Zalan said.

"I did, but now I agree that we need a new plan," Rep said. "I will make burn marks with an arrow to indicate which way we came from."

"Sounds good. Let's get out of here," Zalan said.

He led the way with a decreased level of Elemental Light emitting from his palm. He was at the point where he felt very low on remaining energy. Every second of Elemental Power took a toll, but he didn't want to fall asleep in the Depths of Despair. He had a growing suspicion that he didn't want to admit: If they fell asleep in here, they would not wake up.

After a while, Zalan reduced his Elemental Light to nothing, catching his breath. Rep raised his arm and emitted Elemental Flame without a word exchanged. It was clear that Zalan was feeling very weak and Rep felt the need to jump in. His flame only produced a fraction of the light, the Depths of Despair hungrily consuming any firelight. Still, no one complained and they continued forward.

Rep often stopped to make a mark on the wall, pointing to which way they were headed. Zalan kept a close eye on the walls to make sure they hadn't accidentally gone in a circle. He had no way of determining a sense of direction and was growing bitter to being this turned around. Still, he carried the inertia to continue moving forward. He wanted nothing more than to escape.

"Hey, Rep," Zalan said, a hint of levity in his voice. "How do you think Junill will react to you losing another sword?"

Rep stopped mid-step and placed his face in his non-fiery hand, groaning. He raised his head quickly with an idea.

"Let me borrow your sword! We can tell her that you were the one who lost your sword!" Rep said eagerly, reaching out his hand for Zalan's blade.

"Don't you think she knows one sword from the next?"

Rep lowered his arm in thought, then groaned again and got back to walking.

"Who is Junill?" Finnegan asked, curious.

"No one," Rep grumbled.

"Rep's fiancé," Zalan teased.

"She is not my fiancé," Rep snapped.

"Another of your unceasing lies." Finnegan shook his head at Zalan.

"I'm serious! He paid a dower and everything!" Zalan said.

"You did?" Finnegan asked, excited.

"I am not…" Rep trailed as the wall ahead of him shifted suddenly. "Oh, thank God."

An Obsidian Earthenbeast emerged from the wall of the mines, cutting their conversation short to Rep's pleasure. It looked upon the three travelers, then slammed a fist against the wall. The trio took a few steps back, watching the Obsidian Earthenbeast closely. It didn't approach them. It smashed its fist against the wall again, twice this time.

"What is it doing?" Finnegan asked.

"I think it is calling for Arachulas to join it," Rep said.

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"I think we killed all the Arachulas that Depths had to offer when the big one called them. At least all the ones nearby."

The Earthenbeast smashed the wall and looked over its shoulder. The monster was waiting for something to join it.

"All right, looks like we have a chance to take it on while it's all alone," Zalan said.

Zalan breathed in deeply and blasted the Obsidian Earthenbeast's eyes with laser-focused light. It covered its face with a black palm, and smashed forward blindly with the other. Zalan pulled out his sword and imbued it with Elemental Light. He cut at the Earthenbeast's hand, leaving only the shallowest cut on it. He looked at it with slight disappointment. He was hoping that he could do more damage after having just gained a Level.

"This Earthenbeast is a lot tougher than the others," Rep pointed out. "Perhaps we should try to strike it with our combined efforts," Rep said.

"Me as well?" Finnegan asked.

"If you wish to join, you can," Rep informed him.

"Of course I wish to join. I intend to kill much stronger monsters in the future," Finnegan said boldly. Zalan wasn't sure how he was supposed to help, but thought that maybe throwing a few pieces of rubble as distractions might be useful.

The Earthenbeast pulled a pile of small stones from the mine wall and chucked them at Rep, Finnegan, and Zalan. They shielded their faces with their arms and felt the familiar pain of rocks pelting their bodies. The Earthenbeast stomped forward and Zalan blasted its eyes with his Elemental Light, blinding it for just a second.

"Now!" Rep called.

Zalan rushed forward with his sword, raising it high. He expected Rep to throw a fireball that he would stab through. Instead, to his surprise, Rep ran next to him and grabbed the sword, imbuing it with Elemental Flame on top of Zalan's Elemental Light. Then, Finnegan's hand joined the other two. The combined energy was a hot maelstrom in Zalan's hand and he winced as he plunged it through the Earthenbeast's leg. The combined Strength and Wisdom of the three men was finally enough to do significant damage.

It sliced cleanly though, like a knife going through a chocolate cake. Rep and Zalan moved the sword upward, and Finnegan followed. They drove the inserted blade from the Earthenbeast's shin to its knee. It fell back in pain and landed on its rear, shaking the mines.

"Its head!" Zalan called.

Rep nodded immediately. Finnegan didn't understand and released the sword. The two of them hopped up the dazed Earthenbeast's legs and reached within striking distance of its head. It brought its arms up to swat them away. Without a moment to lose, Rep and Zalan imbued the sword with their respective power and blasted through the Obsidian Earthenbeast's head in a charged slice of bright light and hot fire. It was finally decapitated, the Obsidian Earthenbeast defeated.

But they were a second too late. The Earthenbeast's arm still had the momentum of its final strike. With its massive range of motion, it managed to smack Rep, Zalan, and Finnegan away hard.

The trio flew into the same wall that the obsidian creature appeared from. But instead of being plastered against it, they fell through the opening as though it was a veil. The light in the area changed from Zalan's brilliant white to a sickly yellow. They fell to the ground loudly and rolled over in serious pain. Finnegan was the first to stand, having received a glancing blow, and began limping to the other two.

"Did we fall inside of a wall? Are you alive? Can you walk?" Finnegan asked rapidly.

"Everything hurts," Zalan whispered in pain.

"All of it hurts," Rep agreed.

"What do I do? What do we do? If you can not move, we can not escape! I am even more lost than I thought was possible! We are inside of a wall!" Finnegan said urgently.

"Give me time and I will stand again," Rep assured him, his eyes closed tight with pain.

"Yeah, me too. Maybe," Zalan felt at his bruised body.

Every motion sent shockwaves through his being. He wanted nothing more than sleep. He would settle for any regular sleep, it didn't even need to be a Healing Rest to recover his wounds. He was just so tired. Everything from his body to his mind was in pain.

Rep was peering at something in the distance intently. Zalan saw nothing but an endless abyss, as always. He was starting to wonder if the sun still existed. He closed his eyes, taking deep breaths.

"Zalan," Rep whispered. "Increase your Elemental Light. I think I see something."

Zalan rolled over and shined his arm without opening his eyes. Rep gasped loudly.

"That explains why the Earthenbeasts appeared no matter where we were in the mines," Rep said.

"What is that?" Finnegan asked.

Zalan opened his eyes and saw that in one direction was a familiar yellow glow they hadn't seen since the Castle Docrun. A gem stuck into the wall, giving an otherworldly sensation to the area they had fallen into.

"We are in a Chaos Chamber," Rep declared.

"What is that?" Finnegan asked.

"It's where your parents died," Zalan said.

Finnegan went stiff, looking at the gem with a sense of anger. He looked around the area, spinning in place. Zalan shined his light brighter. There were at least ten different ways out of the wall, but they were all at odd angles, like gravity wells existed at random points in space. Like living in a penrose stair painting. Zalan closed his eyes again, lacking the energy to try and think it through.

"This place has several exits. Are each of them as dangerous as the last?" Finnegan asked.

"There is no way to know. A Chaos Chamber is dangerous and random. But the last one we were in was deactivated by turning the gem," Rep said.

Finnegan didn't move. Zalan didn't expect him to. Too many things had gone wrong recently.

"How did my parents die, exactly? Were they killed by monsters that traveled the Chaos Chamber?" Finnegan asked.

Rep sighed, struggling to get himself to his feet. Approaching Finnegan, he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I am sorry to say they died of starvation," Rep told him.

Finnegan scoffed, closing his eyes. Cracking an eye open to check on him, Zalan could see his fists trembling.

"They never should have gone in the first place. They were powerful, of course, but they were hungry. Nightfall had been struggling to afford food for weeks! They pushed themselves too hard and suffered for it," Finnegan said.

Rep lowered his head in deference.

"If we are to judge them by how they raised you, we should be proud of the people they were," Rep said.

Awestruck, Finnegan looked up at Rep. Rep coughed in pain as Finnegan tackled him in a hug. Rep pat his back lightly, but his face made it clear to Zalan he was in great agony during the embrace. Finnegan released him and looked back at the gem. Zalan saw a tear fall from his chin.

"I am not going to starve to death here. My parents would want me to escape what they could not," Finnegan said boldly.

Without another moment's hesitation, Finnegan made his way to the yellow gem in the wall. Zalan braced himself, hoping this Chaos Chamber would deactivate as nicely as the previous one. Thrusting his arm forward, Finnegan twisted the gem until it clicked.

The three men stared at it for a few moments. Finnegan's daring energy dissipated and his shoulders slumped. He turned back to the others.

"Did it work?"

Rep, Finnegan and Zalan all began to scream suddenly as the ground disappeared out from under them and they were in free fall. They only fell for a second before smashing into the ground. Zalan groaned even louder, lamenting the realm's ability to make him feel more pain than what he considered rock bottom. Finnegan again was first to his feet, but this time he didn't ask whether the others were fine. He could hear the pain clearly.

"Zalan. If you do not mind, could you reactivate your Elemental Light when you feel able?" Finnegan asked bashfully.

Wheezing loudly, Zalan kept his eyes screwed tight, but opened a palm of light for the others to see.

"We seem to be back in the proper Depths of Despair once more, free from the Chaos Chamber in the wall," Finnegan assessed.

Rep suddenly heaved an excited breath. His arm scrambled on the ground as he struggled to point.

"There it is!" Rep called excitedly. "The Homeseeker! It is just over there!"

Zalan opened his eyes in shock. He raised his head and looked around. Finnegan was already quickly limping to gather the suspected Artifact. He held it up for the two friends to see.

"This is the Homeseeker?" Finnegan asked, holding up the cube-like Artifact.

"Yes! Activate it and come here! Make sure to grab on to us once it is active," Rep said eagerly.

"How do I activate it?" Finnegan asked as he rushed over.

"Wait, don't use it!" Zalan said.

"What?" Finnegan asked, appalled.

"Don't turn it on, we're—"

"I can not imagine a single scenario where I would not use this immediately!" Finnegan exclaimed. "Any moment we do not have to spend in the Depths of Despair is a moment well spent. We need to leave now!"

"But we don't wanna waste the use—"

"Zalan, please. I am in so much pain," Rep pleaded.

"I am going to use it. I do not care for your delays," Finnegan said, looking around the Artifact for how to activate it.

"Listen!" Zalan snapped. "Look!"

Zalan pointed his flashlight of an arm directly at something on the floor near them. It looked like a small, deflated Zalan. Finnegan squinted his eyes in derisive confusion.

"Is that a dead Gloomstalker? What difference does that make?" Finnegan asked.

"Is that the monster we killed when this all started?" Rep asked, stunned.

Zalan nodded and revealed more of the path ahead with his hand. The Elemental Light filled the area like a floodlight in the rain. Finnegan gasped, a smile growing quickly on his face as he followed the beam.

They had been spit out at the entrance of the Depths of Despair.