The Homeseeker: An Elemental Adventurer LitRPG

Chapter 12 - Storm

In the seconds it took Zalan and Rep to get under the cover of a decrepit, crumbling building, the torrent of rain pounded atop them with flashes of lightning and roars of thunder filling the city. Rep peeked his head out and darted back inside when another strike of lightning illuminated the area. Zalan leaned himself upright against a wall, breathing heavily after moving only a few feet. He was utterly exhausted, his energy sapped from today's journey, his lack of blood, and the fear of having faced the threat of death by the hands of the Elemental moments ago.

"What do you think would happen if I let some lightning hit me now that I have lightning powers?" Zalan asked over a smash of thunder. "Do you think I'd get all my energy back?"

Rep looked over to him like he was crazy.

"I think you would die," Rep said, exasperated.

"Yeah, that's fair," Zalan sighed, deflating.

Like a massive flash from a camera, the area outside their weak shelter went white then back to darkness in an instant, followed by the cacophonous cry of thunder. Zalan realized that he could hardly see anything in this dim light and Rep felt the same, quickly igniting a flame in his palm to see one another.

"This is bad," Rep said, looking outside and back to Zalan rapidly. "The storm has made the entire area too dark to navigate. I will not be able to keep a flame up for very long without a roof. And the storm is massive! Its reach extends much farther than the edges of the city."

"We can wait it out, can't we?" Zalan asked. He felt somewhat nonchalant about the experience. Something about the dream world made him feel like nothing mattered. None of this was real. His death had to result in going back home, right? He refused any other explanation in his head, and the drowsiness of fatigue made him too lazy to want to pursue any other line of thought.

"Wait this out?" Rep asked, appalled as another crack of thunder shook the earth. "Zalan, we need to get out of here! Even if I thought we could last under the immense rain and lightning, we do not have the food to wait around! We will starve!"

"Right, sure," Zalan nodded to himself.

He had gone back to staring at the finger that emitted a tiny shock of lightning, wondering if he could manifest a storm himself at some point. Would he be able to throw a storm this big at someone? Could he topple a civilization single handedly? What were the limits of these powers?

"Are you listening?" Rep asked loudly.

"I'm listening, but what do you want me to do?" Zalan looked up. "I'm exhausted and I can't use any Elemental Power to change the course of the storm!"

"I want you to try and think of something!" Rep said, panicked.

Lightning crashed into the building closest to them, causing the roof to explode and the rest of it to crumble into a pile of worn rocks. Zalan and Rep both stared in fear. The thunder echoed menacingly. Zalan suddenly didn't care if his death would lead him back home, he didn't want to die in an explosion caused by a direct strike from lightning.

"What do we do?" Zalan shouted, urgency finally reaching his voice.

"I do not know!" Rep shouted back.

Water began pooling at their feet, the dry sands unable to absorb such a constant deluge of water from the skies. Rep and Zalan looked up at one another as another bang of thunder sounded outside.

"We can't be in a puddle!" Zalan said, trying to lift himself.

"Why not?" Rep asked, confused.

"Water conducts lightning. I think we'll get fried!" Zalan said uncertainly.