The Homeseeker: An Elemental Adventurer LitRPG

Chapter 06 - Elementals

Rep and Zalan splayed out the books on the table in the center of Journey House, having been asked to leave Madam Hikma's place as most people asking for advice went looking for privacy. It took a few trips, but Zalan and Rep were able to gather all the books on the table in the guild and sat across from one another looking down at the books with mild disdain. Neither made the first move to crack one open.

"We could always simply go to the volcano," Rep murmured.

"I'm not running around for six months if there's anything that can get me out of here in weeks. Plus, what if it isn't even there? Do Elementals never move?" Zalan asked.

"They move occasionally, and always cause a large disaster when they do. The volcano would have certainly erupted had the Elemental migrated elsewhere," Rep explained, then continued to try and convince Zalan. "The challenge is simple! You need only climb the volcano, and I have already done it once before. And fire is an excellent Element. Absolutely essential if you want to start a fire while on a journey."

"Look, we can knock all these books out in two weeks if we spend all our time reading them. If we don't get anything out of them, then we go to the volcano... a six month journey..." Zalan shuddered.

Rep looked back down at all the books and bit the inside of his lip.

"Very well," Rep sighed and slouched in his seat.

Zalan leaned forward and grabbed the first book, Rep reluctantly grabbing the thinnest book in the pile. As Zalan skimmed over the information, he was quickly interrupted by Rep who loudly had to sound out words in order to define them. Zalan looked up at Rep and saw the concentration he put into the page, his face straining as he pieced together words and said full sentences once he was able to put it together. Zalan was originally going to say something about how Rep was distracting, but realized just how grateful he should be to Rep for assisting him when it was clearly so difficult. Rep was guiding him for what seemed like absolutely no reason, and was putting so much effort in helping him get home. Zalan did his best to ignore Rep and traced a finger over the page to help himself better concentrate on the words in his own book.

Elementals were apparently ghost-like creatures. In the few illustrations available, they were always floating above humans, wearing robes of fire, sand, or clouds, depending on their elemental nature. They were very mysterious and rarely, if ever, lived in places easy for humans to reach. Most of them would simply issue a challenge and then leave the challenger to try to achieve it. Challenges could be something like swimming across a raging river or withstanding a tornado. Other challenges required months or years of waiting for the right opportunity, like starting a fire during a total eclipse. Rep informed Zalan that the Elemental he received his power from appeared at the foot of the volcano, issued the challenge, then disappeared until he reached the top.

Elementals were also stingy when it came to granting any powers to anyone that already had a power within them. The determination of someone's worthiness was not the same between someone with no powers and someone with one power. The challenge they would offer became exponentially more difficult for every Elemental Power the individual had already earned. The example given in the text Zalan was reading said that a man with three Elemental Powers was once asked by a Water Elemental to empty out an entire lake of water using nothing but a bucket. When Zalan asked Rep for any further examples, Rep said that he heard of the Fire Elemental he earned his power from changed the circumstances of the challenge when someone with an Earth Power accepted its challenge. They still had to climb the volcano, but it erupted on their way up.

Elemental Powers were poorly documented. Rep explained that it wasn't uncommon to find people in the world with Elemental Powers, but it was so rare for any of them to sit down and document their specific abilities. Literacy was not a priority for most in the world, so most information was passed orally.