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

The four travelers arrived at the gate of Winkerton, looking up to the guards to be allowed to go outside.

"You!" a guard pointed at Slauson. "These Fleshless are with you? The ones you assigned to fight with us overnight?"

"Indeed," Slauson said, a little tense.

"Would you consider parting ways with them? We can pay handsomely. They are the most diligent guards I have ever seen. They do not tire and they rush out to fight danger," the guard said.

"I have no interest in giving them up to anyone. But I am glad to hear they assisted you overnight," Slauson said.

"Very well, safe travels." The guard sounded disappointed, but pulled the gate open for them regardless.

Zalan closed his eyes as the pungent odor of the surrounding bog struck him, the antithesis of the fragrant scents within the walls of Winkerton. Waving a hand in front of his face to try and dissipate the smells, Zalan perceived the area just beyond the walls. Mounds of small monsters lay dead on the ground, the Fleshless standing above their dead bodies. Fogfangs, Roaches, Razortongues, and even a Shellback lay among the dead. Among the rotting remains was a fallen Fleshless. The one that had been missing an arm. Only four Fleshless remained.

"I have lost yet another," Slauson said, disappointed. "King, you should take better care of them."

King Docrun's eyes watched the horizon, numb to the criticism he'd received.

"Fine, just follow me," Slauson said.

The Fleshless fell in line just ahead of Slauson, marching clumsily and keeping an eye on the horizon.

"Do you think the Fleshless still considers himself a king in his head?" Moss asked.

"If you touch his crown, he goes berserk, so I think there's something in there," Zalan said.

"Where are we headed, exactly?" Rep turned to Slauson.

"I do not know, I just know that we want to move. It is too far to arrive in Wollstone by the evening," Slauson said.

"The next nearest town is a very small one. Fewer than ten buildings total. Hoven," Moss said. "Should we go there?"

"Do they have guards?" Zalan asked.

"Can we partake in Healing Rest behind the walls of Hoven?" Rep asked.

"Yes and yes!" Moss said with spirit.

"Then that is our destination," Slauson determined.

"Already I have shown myself to be a valuable asset to this group," Moss said self-assuredly, taking the lead and guiding them.

Without anyone asking, Moss created thin branches for the travelers to stand on, preventing them from being bogged down by the mire around the city. Zalan didn't want to admit it, but Moss was definitely a very useful member to the group. Not only could he create tiny bridges in the muddy earth, but he could theoretically build anything given enough time. If they were strapped for time, he might even be able to build them a surrounding shield if they needed to remain outside overnight. Something similar to the walls of sand Nold used to make on his way to the Elemental Rage Tournament.

"If you create a nice shelter for us, do we still get the benefits of a Healing Rest from it?" Zalan asked.

"No," Moss said. "There are requirements of safety for Healing Rest to occur. The wall would have to be at least twenty feet tall, and that would take far too much energy for me to create in the span of a single day."

"I figured we wouldn't get an easy win," Zalan said.

The group walked across the next few feet of marsh in relative silence, the slosh of foot on mossy floor a constant rhythm.

"What do you normally talk about when you are on the road?" Moss asked when they reached the edges of the bog.

"Nothing," Slauson said, cold.

"That does not sound particularly stimulating," Moss said, a lilt of disappointment on his tongue.

"I do not require endless stimulation," Slauson said.

Zalan's face went warm at the comment, suddenly feeling a hole in his pocket where he used to go for his phone every single hour of the day. There were certainly parts of the world he came from that he didn't miss.

"Here is a question I have had for a while!" Moss said. "How does the Healing Rest know what injuries we have?"

"What?" Slauson said, already impatient with the question.

"What do you mean?" Zalan asked, somewhat curious.

"We know that the Healing Rest does not repair injuries that we have done to ourselves. But how does the Healing Rest know an intended injury from an unintended one? Where in the scheme of the slumber does it find the time to assess the source of our wounds?" Moss asked.

Zalan looked down in thought, his feet tracking through the soft mud of the land beyond the bog. He had never considered the question before. Looking around, he saw Rep and Slauson taking it seriously as well.

"Furthermore! Have you ever gotten your hair cut before?" Moss asked Rep.

"Of course," Rep nodded.

"Why did it not grow back when you took a Healing Rest?" Moss pointed at him.

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"I…" Rep scratched his hair. "I do not know."

"Hey, yeah!" Zalan said suddenly. "When we first fought a Flamestriker, I remember you telling me it burned my eyebrows off! But they came back when I did my first Healing Rest!"

"That is true. I never considered why that is the case. I just knew that… That it was?" Rep said, sounding somewhat confused.

"How long ago did you take on your first Flamestriker?" Slauson asked.

"Uhhh…" Zalan had lost track of days. "Like a few months back?"

"What?" Moss spun around, walking backward to stare at Zalan.

"You are serious?" Slauson asked.

"Yeah, why? Is there a right time to fight your first Flamestriker?" Zalan asked, looking between the two.

"You said you took your first Healing Rest a few months back?" Slauson said. "How were you healing before?"

Zalan recounted his recent sentences and ran a hand through his hair with a sheepish smile. Moss tripped and fell on his rear, but kept his gaze fixed on Zalan. Slauson looked at Rep for an explanation. With a tight line for a mouth, Rep was doing a poor job trying to look relaxed.

"Is there something we should know about Zalan?" Slauson asked Rep, a hint of hostility in his voice.

"It sounds interesting!" Moss added, a distinct lack of hostility in his voice.

"Nothing that impedes our goal of stopping Morloch," Rep said hastily.

"But there is something," Slauson concluded, summoning a block of ice under Moss to push him back to his feet. He continued leading the way and the others followed.

"Yeah," Zalan said. "I'm from another world. Not from this realm."

Slauson frowned, the epitome of skepticism. Moss nodded, smiling.

"Are you from another realm entirely, or are you from another part of this realm that we have yet to visit?" Moss asked.

"Definitely another world. There's no Healing Rest or Elemental Powers where I come from. Or monsters. Also no Artifacts," Zalan listed as each item came to mind.

"What about birds? Are there birds?" Moss asked.

"Y… Yeah there are birds," Zalan said, a little confused by the question.

"That is good. All realms should have birds." Moss said confidently.

"If you are from another world, how did you arrive here? And why do you remain? Do you not have a home to return to?" Slauson asked.

Zalan gave Rep a glance. Rep let out an exasperated sigh.

"I used an Artifact that no one had heard of and pulled him into this realm. We intend to use the Rings of Range that Morloch wears to send Zalan back," Rep explained.

"You used an Artifact blindly?" Slauson asked, disappointed.

"Which Artifact did it end up being?" Moss asked.

"I do not know. Not even Madam Hikma knew of it. Something entirely new," Rep said.

"Then what did you name it?" Moss asked.

Rep blinked in consideration.

"I did not name it," Rep said.

"Why not? You discovered it, did you not? If Madam Hikma had no answers, then it may be entirely new. You have the right to name it something like… The Zalaner!" Moss said with a raised finger.

"I think that is a tad specific when it may have broader uses," Rep said.

"So it can summon anyone from another realm? Not just Zalan?" Moss asked.

"I do not know. It degraded after a single use," Rep answered.

"Then it may very well be a Zalaner. Only able to summon Zalan," Moss said.

Zalan's face scrunched at the thought, hoping it wasn't the case that something in the realm was tied specifically to him.

"I think I will refer to it as a Realm Summoner until further notice," Rep said, a smile inching across his face. It occurred to Zalan that he must have been very excited about being able to name an Artifact.

Moss stopped and stared at a massive, deep indentation in the earth. Like an entire building had been dragged through the earth from where they began and continued ahead as a shallow canyon. A long gash in the earth's surface. Moss frowned and knelt down to touch it.

"A Beast of Slumber," Slauson said.

"Surely." Moss picked up a small clump of earth and let it fall through his hands. "But its path is too direct. Hoven should be visible by now."

Moss stood up and the group looked out at the horizon. The shallow wedge continued forward for thousands of feet ahead of them, and Zalan could see several trees crushed in its path, a clear direction in its destruction. But there was no sign of buildings ahead. Even as a small town, there was clear visibility ahead that should have allowed them to see some signs. Travelers in and out. A wall in the distance.

There was nothing to be seen.

The group grew somber, continuing forward in silence. They walked around the harrowing scratch coursing through the ground and occasionally looked inside. Mostly dead trees and smaller plantlife, but occasionally flattened monster remains were included. Twice, Zalan believed he may have seen severed human body parts, but refused to look again to make sure.

Their gradual progress came to a halt when they came across stones and pieces of wood strewn across the ground. Some vestiges of what used to be structures, buried deep in the earth. Tiny etchings in the floor indicated where a wall used to stand, but everything was flattened now. There were barely any signs of life having once existed here. Now the entirety was contained within a deep gash of earth, with several more craters where the monster likely fought against the residents. Scattered about were wood chips, wagons wheels, and torn bloody fabric.

Zalan breathed slowly, taking in the scene where a massacre had taken place by a single monster. This could have been the same fate that Oriton came to were it not for Ma's intervention. Zalan could appreciate all of the guards having an astute sense of paranoia from everything coming from outside their walls. This was the consequence of not taking the outside threat seriously.

"Good people lived here. Some of my friends," Moss said, his lip quivering.

Zalan turned his way to see tears dripping off his trembling chin. Rep placed an arm on his shoulder and Moss fell into him, sobbing quietly. Slauson stared with wide eyes and pursed lips. Zalan knelt down and touched the earth. Stinging agitation flowed behind Zalan's eyes and tears fell from him, as well. He couldn't help it, wondering what the innocent people of the land did in their last moments.

The pure images of innocent civilians he conjured in his mind made him think of his own mother having to face down an unbeatable monster. Someone not deserving of death having to face it down. He already knew how she would react if she were alive to fight a Beast of Slumber. She would face it with dignity. Just like she did with cancer. And she would die along with the rest of the innocents.

The travelers remained quiet for some time, save for an occasional deep breath from Moss. Rep consoled him. Slauson walked around with a frown and Zalan stayed knelt in place, wiping away tears. When Moss eventually stood on his own, taking a deep hard look at the travesty before him, he looked enraged.

"I take it that we intend to kill Morloch? For destroying this world we take care of and love?" Moss asked.

"That's the plan," Zalan said.

"Good. Let us continue. We may still be able to reach a town before night falls," Moss said, tearing his face away from the sight of Hoven.

"Tell me. Is the town in that direction?" Slauson pointed somewhere out beyond the trees.

"No, it is in the opposite direction. Why?" Moss asked.

"Then what am I seeing out there?" Slauson asked seriously.

On the horizon was something that jutted out just above it. With some further scrutiny Zalan could make out that it was a moving speck, coming in their direction slowly. The size of the speck on the horizon suggested that it was several stories tall and Zalan's blood went cold.

"That is a Wrathgaze. A Beast of Slumber," Moss said, confirming everyone's fears.