The Homeseeker: An Elemental Adventurer LitRPG

Chapter 30 - Within the Gates

The group assessed themselves before continuing into the castle. Yelsa's foot was still slightly wounded which caused her to lean heavily on her good leg, but she insisted that she was fine to continue, eager to go home as soon as possible. Rep and Fran had no signs of injuries, leaving only Zalan and Gorb with bruises.

"I'll be fine," Zalan insisted as Rep was inspecting the wound on his ribs. "Once I'm home, I think it'll disappear."

"We do not know what happens between our worlds," Rep said.

"I'm pretty sure I'll just wake up. Gorb, are you fine with only one good eye?" Zalan asked. He knew Gorb would be fine, he was just really excited to use the name 'Gorb' to address him.

"I will not hinder our progress," Gorb promised. "And I am close to increasing my Level. I am confident I will heal within the castle once we finish off the dragon."

Zalan didn't even realize it had been a while since he checked his own values. He tapped his fingers and inspected his Experience. It was at 96. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, then realized that he'd fought a Boznok and two Nargs since he last Leveled Up, and they were probably worth a lot of experience at his low Level.

Zalan made his way to the Narg he blinded with Yelsa, pulling at the sword stabbed into the calf. His weapon refused to budge as he pulled against it. He put both hands on it and pulled harder, only for it to remain in place. Fran watched him with amusement.

"Need assistance?" she asked.

"Let me just..." Zalan put one foot against the Narg and pulled with all his might. The sword didn't move.

Fran smirked as she stepped forward and pulled the sword out with two fingers, placing it in Zalan's sheath for him then making her way to the gates. Zalan went flush with embarrassment and followed. The chasm between their respective Strength was very apparent.

With that, the five friends made their way toward the crushed gates of the Castle of Docrun, ready to finally step inside.

"So how bad was it to take down your own Narg?" Zalan asked Rep as they walked.

"Awful. I feel so useless in battle, only serving to hold back the rest of you," Rep replied immediately. "I tried to strike it with my sword, only for it to bounce off harmlessly. From there, the Narg wished only to target myself. Fran tried her best to bring its ire upon her by waving her flaming sword and slashing at its feet, but it only had eyes to do damage to me. It threw all manner of debris, including its burning club. It dealt me quite the blow right here on my face." Rep pointed to where the bleeding cut had been on his cheek before he gained a Level.

"How did you end up taking it down?" Zalan asked.

"I used myself as bait to turn the Narg away from Gorb and Fran. They took the distraction to get above the Narg and slice its throat," Rep replied.

"They're a good team," Zalan mused, looking at the siblings as they led the way to the castle.

"Indeed! They seem to instinctively know when to work together to send Fran skyward for her to deliver powerful attacks to weak points," Rep nodded.

The five had arrived at the gates now, staring as far as they could beyond the crushed entrance to see if there were any other monsters awaiting them. Fran and Gorb checked on either side of the walls behind the gates and nodded back to their friends to confirm it was safe. Beyond the gates was a large set of double doors to enter, at least the size of the Nargs. The doors were slightly ajar and decaying, looking as though the weakest ember of fire from even Rep could burn them down in moments.

Before they stepped inside, Yelsa nocked her bow and fired an arrow into the opening of the door, listening to it clatter inside. They waited silently for any creatures to react to the projectile. There were no noises, but Zalan didn't know whether to be comforted by that or to think that there was something intelligent inside waiting to ambush them. As they began to move forward, Yelsa suggested a second method to ensure they would not be surprised. She turned to Gorb and whispered something in his ear. He stoically nodded and took one step in front of the group. Taking a deep breath, he blasted the doors open with a burst of wind.