The Homeseeker: An Elemental Adventurer LitRPG

Chapter 25 - Outburst

Zalan looked between his four companions in confusion, as they continued to watch him carefully, like something dangerous was creeping from within him. Rep looked like he was trying to calm the others down with his eyes alone. Zalan turned around to make sure that the Boznok was dead, then looked to Fran, desperate to break the strange silence.

"Good fight, right?" Zalan asked her. She looked away from him, discomfort written starkly on her face. She turned her whole body around, focusing on putting out the fire she started in the den before any serious structural damage took place. "What's going on, what happened?" Zalan asked.

"Were you blinded in battle? Are your eyes harmed?" Yelsa asked.

"Is that all? No, I'm fine, we won without any big injuries!" Zalan smiled, only for it not to be reciprocated. Another moment of silence passed between them.

"Did you see the Boznok before you killed it?" Gorb asked.

"Yeah, how else would I hit it?" Zalan asked.

"You saw the motion it made?" Gorb pressed.

"Like, saw it raise a hand at me? Sure. Right before I killed it," Zalan said.

"It is fine," Rep said immediately, addressing the others, but was bulldozed by their visceral responses.

"What is wrong with you?" Yelsa snapped.

"Such evil," Gorb breathed.

Fran shook her head solemnly.

"What? What are you talking about?" Zalan asked, growing angry over the lack of answers.

"The Boznok was surrendering. It held its hand up and asked for mercy and you killed it," Gorb said.

"So what? I wasn't going to suddenly drop my weapon against it. It had just tried to stab me with a horn!" Zalan replied.

"But it surrendered!" Yelsa protested.

"So what?" Zalan repeated louder, throwing his arms open. "The thing was trying to kill me and Rep, but as soon as I have the opportunity to stop it, you want me to go easy? Look at all the ones you killed!"

"We killed them because we had no choice. None of ours surrendered," Fran said.

"And we did not shove our blade into their chests repeatedly! We delivered quick and painless deaths after our intrusion!" Yelsa added.

"Intrusion? They came outside to attack us! I would have been perfectly happy not fighting them at all if they stayed in their home," Zalan said scornfully.

"Yes, that is true," Rep said, still trying to get a hold of the situation, but was again ignored.

"So, what, I was supposed to let it gore me with a horn or something?" Zalan asked.

"It surrendered! If you were scared of it attacking you, a swift cut of the head would end the confrontation. You killed it with such brutality. You tortured it when it asked for leniency," Yelsa said.

"He did not know," Rep said.

"How can he not know what a surrendering Boznok looks like?" Gorb challenged.

Rep opened his mouth to answer, but Zalan exploded,

"Because you never told me! You didn't tell me anything about these creatures or how they acted or if they were intelligent! You don't tell me anything until it's too late and then you blame me for not knowing! You were all so proud of me when I killed a bunch of Roaches, but apparently there's no equivalence to all monsters? You put these accusations on me when I'm pretty sure you're the ones at fault for leaving me in the dark and expecting me to pick up all these things!"