CHAPTER 514: EXPEDITION TO THE LAND OF THE DEAD [I]

Before Elaina sets out to go and do a small expedition to the Land of the Dead, Elaina converted the door on her room to be a portal that would allow her to move from Darcero Kingdom to the Land of the Dead.

Although she can tell the others about her new power, there is no need for her to do it for now and they are also busy with their own tasks so having to drag them into her own tasks is something she didn’t want to do.

She let the Fey family to take care of the farm for the time being and she will not be working for the day as she has something to do in which the four didn’t decline and agreed immediately.

The final thing she made sure was ready is her sword. The land of the dead might be empty for the time being, and monsters are not living there, but considering that it has been a long time, and there might be something or someone that does thrive there, she needed to ensure she can fight.

Elaina also packed some lunch and some camping gear in case she has to sleep outside, and to also ensure that she can rest while on this expedition. And last but not least, she made sure to pack enough food for her to last through this expedition. She confirmed that the last time that even though she can teleport, she can only add one waypoint at a time, and she can only maintain one. So if she wanted to open another instance of the portal, she would have to close the second one.

She is thankful that the ability of teleportation is exclusive to her, which means that no one will see the portal on her door and accidentally follow her in the process. It hinders her from bringing another person on her expedition, but she is given enough freedom to teleport even over long distances. After all, Baraza Kingdom is far from Darcero Kingdom, and one has to ride a ship just to reach it. Having to skip the process of riding the ship and entering its borders immediately is a good way of skipping process of the boring part.

With everything set and done, Elaina activates the portal and returns to the Land of the Dead.

Upon setting foot on the place once more, Elaina shook her head as she glanced over at the surroundings. Sure, the place looks the same as usual when she arrived the first time, but having to see it clearly this time around, she felt sad about the whole place being so dead to the point that not even life can survive the place. It is not an actively hostile place where a monster is actively killing anything there, it’s just that life is not able to thrive in a place that slowly poisons its surroundings.

"Just watching this place makes me realize the whole burden I am doing just to finish this quest for the Creator God," Elaina grumbled as she started to walk towards the dead expanse of the Land of the Dead with the horizon of only an empty field.

"[But it was an optional thing, Elaina. You could have just ignored the quest and just focus on the others, but you seemed to be more focused to clear it than usual, you know? Maybe because you are more enticed by the rewards...right?]" the God of Farming said, seemingly teasing Elaina for undertaking the quest due to rewards.

"Yeah, yeah. I admit it, but it doesn’t matter if I regretted my decision or not. There is no backing out now, and I have to do all of this and see through it to the end."

And so, Elaina started her long walk on the expanse of the Land of the Dead. She made occasional breaks to answer the call of her needs before resuming. She only rested once in a while and continued moving without stopping. She is more vigilant than ever as she traverses the expanse of empty, barren lands.

"[Wow, it’s been an hour since you started walking through the empty expanse, and yet you only rested for around 10 minutes, and you have only done that twice since you started. I kind of underestimated you, Elaina.]" The God of Farming is amazed by Elaina’s endurance.

"You have to thank my childhood experience of surviving a wilderness teeming with monsters day and night that can kill a child in a matter of seconds. Without that experience, I wouldn’t be capable of doing this stuff by myself."

"[Still, it is amazing that for someone who is incapable of using magic without the usage of tools that are designed to allow magic usage without the need of using one’s own mana, you have done much more than those who possess mana. Aren’t you sad that you can’t use magic at all and how different you are compared to others?]" The God of Farming continues to inquire.

"In the past, yes, especially before the solo survival. After learning I can’t use magic, my parents basically stopped any kind of education for me back then, which made me closer to my grandparents at that time. I even complained to my grandparents about this matter, which I think was the main reason I was dropped on that survival mission and managed to become this way now. I know that the world runs in magic but when I survived on my own without relying on it, I realized that I don’t need magic to survive in a hostile environment fully. Only I and my wits would help me survive on my own."

The two continued to discuss things here and there as Elaina continued to traverse the desolate and barren wasteland. Thanks to the conversation that they had, Elaina did not realize that she had covered a very large distance from the very beginning, and only two hours had passed since then.

"I didn’t even realize I had covered a very large distance since the very beginning without even having a single ride to navigate the place."

"[Indeed. I was more surprised that you can walk that far and fast without even getting tired. Just by the feeling of it, I can even tell that would be very exhausting.]"

"True. I think I do need to have a break for now. I am kind of hungry and thirsty. Time to get some rest now. With how far I have already walked, I think this is a fair amount of time to make a temporary stop."

"[Good idea. If you have tried to continue, I would have forced you to stop.]"

Elaina smiled and checked her surroundings. As she looked around for a place she could rest in, she saw a remnant of a house not too far from where she was standing. It was the first structure in the area since she started walking. She quickly rushes to the area, and she is not wrong. It was indeed a ruined house. It barely has a solid roof, but the walls are still intact, and the place is still good enough to be a temporary shelter. The only problem one might encounter there is the roof, which would be a big problem if the rain comes.

"Wow. I heard of the place being used as a residential district outside Baraza Kingdom, but the fact that I would see something close to an intact ruin out here is quite insane."

"[It’s great and all, but be careful over there since unlike the ruins that are large structures, this is a dilapidated house ruin and can easily collapse with one wrong move there.]"

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to check the place out and see if there is anything I can check inside."

Elaina slowly and carefully entered the ruins, and she was surprised to see that, despite the place slowly losing integrity over time, some furniture was still present there. Getting rickety and close to collapse, sure, but it is still intact and interactable.

The place is small since the other parts of the house have clearly collapsed, and the only thing stopping her from getting there is the rubble.

Elaina was ready to lay down camp at the place when she heard a low voice.

"H-help me..."

It was a low and quiet voice, and yet, Elaina heard it clearly due to how quiet the surroundings were, and the only noises in the place were her footsteps and the sound of her tools she was bringing with her.

She quickly grabbed her sword handle and checked her surroundings. She stopped moving and made sure to listen carefully to the surroundings. She didn’t want to miss the voice again.

"Anyone...help..."

Elaina is now sure of it; she can hear a tiny voice. She quickly traced the voice slowly by pinpointing it. The voice continues to call out, which allows Elaina to slowly and surely reach the source of the voice. And as soon as she reached where the voice was coming from, she saw a collapsed male fairy, his light slowly dimming and his consciousness slowly fading.