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

The rest of the night had gone largely without incident. When Zalan was on watch, he had to burn through Fogfangs that raced toward the camp, but it wasn't enough of a confrontation that he had to wake any of the others. Rousing the rest of them when the sun touched the land, the group was ready to travel within minutes.

"What do we do with this?" Zalan pointed to their campsite structure.

"Burn it," Slauson suggested.

"Just leave it," Moss shrugged. "What need is there to torch it? I can make another whenever we need to."

The group glanced at the wooden beams poked into the ground, grateful for even the small protection from the outside. Moss was the first to turn away and the others followed.

"Any dragon sightings?" Slauson asked.

"No, the Elemental Dragon never came back. But the Libreville wall was partly rebuilt overnight. I think I heard construction or something. Elemental Earth blocks look like they're filling the space for now," Zalan said.

"Did you really see Aetheria overnight?" Moss asked.

"Yes," Slauson said.

"Not you, I still do not think you are being sincere with me," Moss said, shaking his head.

"We saw its shadow against the smoke you helped create overnight," Rep answered, nodding.

"Good news! Where is it?" Moss asked.

"Behind a cloud in the sky," Rep said.

"Is that… Not… Exactly what we knew yesterday?" Moss asked, confused.

Zalan scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. Moss was right, they didn't actually made much progress beyond confirming its existence.

"It is so much different to see it!" Rep said enthusiastically. "Witnessing the reality of a city floating in the sky is unreal!"

"Then do we have a plan on how to reach it now?" Moss asked.

The other three remained quiet.

"I fail to see how this helps us much," Moss said.

"At least now I will be able to tell Gorb that I saw it in person," Rep said.

"Would he even take your word for it?" Moss asked.

"You did," Zalan pointed out.

"Fair enough," Moss agreed.

Zalan scanned the horizon for monsters, and as he did so, it occurred to him that he had eased up about the potential of an oncoming Beast of Slumber. It wasn't that he was brave enough to face one head on, but the fact that the land ahead looked clean. It lacked the signs of recent storms caused by migrating Elementals or land terraformed by the visit of a massive beast. He marginally let his guard down.

"What kind of abilities did you have in your previous world, Zalan?" Moss asked, curious.

"Ummm… none. We didn't have monsters or Elementals," Zalan said.

"You have already expressed as much, but I am not asking what did not exist. What abilities did you have? Anything we would find interesting?" Moss asked.

Zalan thought about the question for a moment, then remembered the device he used almost every single day of his life.

"Yeah, we have these things called phones that allowed us to access a collective library of information," Zalan said, trying to describe the internet in as easy a way as possible.

"Elaborate," Moss said, excited. "Could you read about Elementals in this collective library?"

"No, there isn't going to be any information on things that didn't exist. But I could do things like send a message to someone across the world and they would receive it immediately," Zalan said.

"Amazing," Moss said.

"You mean you could send a letter and they would read it as soon as you sent it?" Slauson asked.

"Would it warp there by means of something like a Homeseeker?" Rep asked.

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"Even faster. Imagine the moment you've finished writing a letter, the person you addressed it to can access it. That's the kind of Artifact we had. And it doesn't degrade," Zalan said.

"Amazing," Moss repeated.

"I would be more amazed with proof," Slauson said.

"Do you think your world has access to abilities and Elemental Power, but they have yet to discover it?" Moss asked.

"I mean… I don't think so?" Zalan said.

"I heard there exists a land that has monsters but no Experience. Dragons, if I remember correctly. And because the people of the land can not gain Levels, all their weapons break when they attack the winged creatures. The only way to defeat a dragon in that land would be to strike its heart when it is most vulnerable," Moss said.

"Where did you hear something so absurd?" Slauson asked.

"I read it in some books once. The entire journey involved a powerless knight and his means of defeating dragons."

"That may be the worst series of books I have ever heard of."

"I liked it," Moss grumbled.

"Pay attention. Up ahead there look to be monsters," Rep said.

Zalan glanced ahead and witnessed three large lumbering creatures in the distance. They looked like a grotesque mix of man and frog, carrying spiked clubs. Zalan recognized them as soon as he saw the bulbous eyes on one of them.

"Nargs!" Zalan said.

"The only Nargs I have seen before were dead at the gates of Castle Docrun," Slauson said.

"Do you think they make their weapons themselves?" Moss asked. "I have only ever seen Nargs with large, spiked clubs, but never do I see them creating it."

"Focus, we need a plan on how to take down three of them," Rep said.

"Three Nargs to people hovering around Level 10 are not much of a challenge." Slauson waved a hand at them dismissively.

"I do not wish to underestimate them," Rep responded.

"Very well, I will freeze their legs," Slauson said.

"I can produce spikes from their clubs so they will be stabbed by their own weapons," Moss said next.

"I can hit their eyes with enough light to blind them?" Zalan offered.

"Then I will throw my flame-imbued sword through their necks at a distance. None of us need to get near any danger," Rep said.

Zalan felt nervous, remembering how close to death he came from fighting a Narg the first time. With every scared heartbeat, he reminded himself that he was only Level 2 at the time, and he had many times the Strength and Wisdom as before. He just hoped the jump in his power would be enough to overwhelm each Narg's eyes.

When they were about two hundred feet away, the Nargs took notice of the travelers and prepared their clubs for battle. Together, they leapt high in the air, sailing dozens of feet toward them before landing hard on the earth, mud spraying around them. Slauson and Moss raised their arms, prepared to use their Elemental Powers as soon as the Nargs got just a little closer in range. Zalan imbued his hand, preparing to blast concentrated beams of light as soon as the Nargs were injured or frozen in place.

They made another leap, closing the gap between them to less than a hundred feet.

"Now!" Rep said, imbuing his sword in bright flame.

Slauson gripped his arms into a fist, and a block of ice crept up the legs of all three Narg's simultaneously. Moss twisted his arms and each of the Nargs dropped their wooden weapons when the pain of thorns darted deep into their hands. Zalan moved next, sending beam after beam of high-energy light to each of their large, round eyes. To his surprise, each of his attacks burned their eyes clean off. They were left blinded, frozen, and unarmed within seconds. Rep let his sword loose, broiling in flames. Redirecting it with his Elemental Fire, he pulled it like a boomerang to cut through each of the Nargs' throats.

Their heads slumped forward, then slid to the floor, each of them defeated in less than a minute. The travelers stared at the frozen, dead frog monsters, remaining in battle stances. Rep's sword returned to him, and he caught it midair, snuffing out the flame in the same motion. He held out the sword at the three bodies, then lowered it hesitantly.

"I did not expect the plan to work out so well," Rep said.

"Yeah, it usually doesn't go that easily for us," Zalan said.

"I barely gained three Experience from the battle. They may not have even been worth our time," Moss said.

Zalan checked his stats, curious. He was still at 18, the same number he ended at after fighting the Nightwolves.

"I didn't get any Experience," he said, surprised.

"Nargs are beneath you," Rep assessed. "If creatures are too easy to defeat, you no longer gain Experience. Or perhaps you have to kill more than three to gain a single point of Experience."

"Let us keep moving," Slauson said, being the first to step forward to pass the immobile Nargs.

Slauson poked at one of the Nargs, searching for any Artifacts. Rep and Moss moved in and searched the other two. Zalan approached one of the heads of the Nargs on the floor, taking a good look at the eyes he had burned out. Last he fought them, he wasn't even able to stab them. Now he could cut through without even touching them. It made him wonder if the battle with Morloch could possibly be so easy. As much as he hoped for a battle they could execute a perfect plan around, he knew his former mentor would be far more powerful.

"I found nothing," Slauson shrugged.

"And I as well," Rep said.

"I found a Wind Wand!" Moss held it up excitedly.

"The Artifact that produces a faint breeze?" Slauson clarified.

"The very same," Moss said, sounding grand about it.

"Well at least now you have an Artifact that is truly useless. It would make sense if a Beast of Slumber approached you and you did not use it," Slauson said.

"Why not? I think it could be very useful in that situation. Perhaps distract it for a moment," Moss said, looking over the wand.

Slauson pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled loudly.

"I am so glad you decided to travel with us," Slauson grumbled sarcastically, turning and heading off toward the next city.

"And I as well," Moss said sincerely, following him.

Rep and Zalan smiled at one another. Zalan enjoyed traveling in a group like this once more. It reminded him of the time he spent with Gorb, Yelsa, and Fran on his first adventure. He only hoped the adventure would end up a lot better for him and his friends this time.