The Homeseeker: Elemental Adventurer LitRPG [Isekai] (Series Complete!)

Zalan was startled awake by the sound of a dozen feet racing off into the distance. Slauson had assured them that none of them needed to keep watch overnight while the Fleshless were around them, but Zalan couldn't get into deep sleep. His bleary eyes could barely make out the Fleshless running to face off with a monster in the distance. Anytime he had taken watch in the past, he never saw more than one or two monsters a night. This was the sixth time the Fleshless had awoken him as they rushed away to deal with a creature.

Emitting the slightest glow from his palm, Zalan tried to get a better view of the monster. Slauson shifted from his spot on the ground, propping himself up.

"Not able to sleep?" Slauson asked.

"Not for very long," Zalan said, sitting up and stretching his back.

They both looked to Rep, expecting him to get up as well. He rolled over, snoring lightly. Zalan and Slauson looked back to one another, shrugging.

"I thought it would get easier with guards that do not tire, but the realm does not give me much comfort these days," Slauson admitted. "Elementals have caused earthquakes and storms to rage in peaceful areas. I even heard Beasts of Slumber were spotted on some horizons. I shudder to think one of them will sneak up on me in the night."

"I don't think they will. Their walk is so powerful that you'd wake up before they were close enough to see you," Zalan said.

"That does not mean I could escape it. There are also creatures that could fly in and attack me in silence. Dragons drift through the skies more often than before."

Zalan looked up at the stars, waiting for some to be obscured by a dragon at that moment. When none passed, he looked down at his glowing hand. He shined it a hint brighter, then looked at Slauson.

"You mind if I practice redirecting my power right now?"

"Why should I care?"

"The guards of Moonwell were pretty mad that I attracted attention with beacons of light."

"I am not the guards of Moonwell. I do not care."

With a surprised grin, Zalan gave a short scoff of amusement. Holding his hands skyward, he let out a thin stream of light, focusing on bending the beam more than 90 degrees. There was resistance, but Zalan strained himself to make more progress.

"Do you train every night?" Slauson asked, laying himself down to watch Zalan's work in the night sky.

"I got my Elemental Light a few days ago. Still trying to figure out everything I knew when I had Elemental Lightning. I want to be able to turn the light back at me, so I could spin it and get someone from behind," Zalan said.

"That sounds useful. What else?" Slauson asked.

"What else?"

"You only wish to redirect your power? That sounds somewhat narrow minded for someone at Level 11. Have you tried turning the light off then reactivating it at a distance?" Slauson asked.

"I don't know… Can I do that?"

"How should I know? You have never tried," Slauson pointed out.

Frowning slightly, Zalan brought his arms down to ground level. Squinting in concentration, Zalan let out a thin line of light, and let it die out. He tried to bring it back from that same point, but couldn't feel anything to grasp on to and magnify. Once light was gone, he couldn't reignite it.

"No, I don't think I can do that," Zalan said.

"Good to know before you are in battle and try something impossible in desperation. What other ideas do you have?" Slauson asked.

"I don't know… Like what? I don't know what else to use Elemental Light for other than a fine, burning point or lighting things up."

"Try to think of attributes of light and how it could benefit you to control those aspects. For example, I have control over Elemental Fire and Elemental Ice. Observe."

Slauson held out a ball of flame from one hand and placed the other hand just behind it. Letting out a thin flow of ice like snow, it turned into mist as soon as it touched the open flame. Rep rolled over, mumbling to himself. Slauson ignored him.

"I can create water with ice and fire. It should have been an obvious conclusion, but I never thought of it before running out of water in Castle Docrun," Slauson explained.

"Okay… Aspects of light," Zalan thought back to his classes on light.

He wondered if he could do something leveraging the speed of light. Maybe if he imbued his sword with light, he could send it flying faster than anyone could see it. He picked up a small rock from the ground and imbued it with power, giving his theory a small test run. Reeling his arm back, he chucked it forward and applied as much Elemental Power to increase its speed as he could. It didn't seem to move any faster than usual. As the point of light faded when it got out of range, Zalan had a new idea.

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He created a tiny orb of light, the size of a fingernail and let it gently float around him. Slauson nodded.

"A personal torch that follows you," he nodded.

"Yeah, I don't know why I've always been imbuing myself to light up places when I could just do this," Zalan said.

"This is why you need to expand your imagination. Experimentation is good," Slauson said.

Zalan nodded enthusiastically, staring at the small ball of light, hovering like a firefly just before his eyes. With a few seconds of consideration, Zalan suddenly leaned forward and ate the ball of light. Raising an eyebrow, Slauson tilted his head.

"What was the purpose of that?"

"I don't know," Zalan said, his mouth glowing with every word. "I was experimenting like you said."

"I see. Perhaps not all experimentation is good," Slauson concluded.

The Fleshless returned from their battle, surrounding the travelers and looking out. Zalan noticed one of them no longer had a jaw. Little by little, the Fleshless were being destroyed. Zalan wondered if they would make it all the way to Aetheria. Then, he wondered if they would even be able to take them into the sky. He looked at their silhouettes against the stars, wondering if they could experience a fear of heights. Or any fear at all.

Suddenly, looking closely at one of the outlines of the creatures, Zalan's eyebrows lowered as a strong epiphany came to him. He thought back to the pictures of Aetheria he had read about from Madam Hikma's library. Blinking, he shot up suddenly.

"I figured it out," Zalan said, pacing back and forth. "I know how to find Aetheria, even if we're still on the ground."

"You must consume more light," Slauson said sarcastically.

"No, listen. We know that the city sits behind some clouds right? So I shine my light on some clouds in hopes of seeing it. But it's hidden. The clouds are reflecting light back at us and we just see more cloud. That's because I'm hitting it wrong," Zalan said.

Slauson leaned forward, looking somewhat enthused. Nodding, he added no snarky remarks.

"I need to get a light up there to illuminate it from behind," Zalan said.

A frown weighed on Slauson's lips, his head shaking in a lack of understanding.

"Okay…" Zalan said, looking around for a way to provide an example. He picked up his blanket and held it up. He let any traces of Elemental Light on his body die down to nothing before continuing.

"All right, my hand is behind this sheet. How many fingers am I holding up?" Zalan asked.

"How should I know? I can see next to nothing right now."

"Sure, but how about now?" Zalan asked.

Summoning a ball of light, he let it drift in front of the blanket, his hand still hidden behind. Pursing his lips, Slauson peered at the blanket closely. He glanced between the sheet and shadow on the floor, trying to figure out the puzzle.

"I still do not know," Slauson said, disappointed.

"All right, but what if I put the light behind?" Zalan asked.

The small orb of light drifted behind the blanket and Slauson's eyes lit up with recognition.

"Oh. That is brilliant," Slauson said.

While Slauson couldn't see Zalan's hand, he saw the clear silhouette of the hand's shadow cast on the blanket, wiggling four fingers. Slauson scoffed in amusement, shaking his head.

"All someone has to do is ask you to be creative and you suddenly can solve all your problems?" Slauson asked.

"I've been thinking about this all week," Zalan replied. "You just happened to trigger something for me to figure it out."

Dropping the blanket, light flashed across Rep's sleeping face.

"I am awake! I am awake!" Rep shot up, looking around in bleary confusion. Rubbing his eyes, he looked up at the night sky. "Why are we awake, exactly?"

"Zalan found a way to locate the city in the sky," Slauson reported.

"And you have found it?" Rep asked.

"No, not yet," Zalan said.

"Then this can wait til morning," Rep laid back down.

As soon as his head touched the ground, all the Fleshless shuffled around quickly, their attention turning one way. Rep's eyes remained wide open, looking between Zalan and Slauson to read their expressions. Slauson looked especially intrigued by the sudden motion.

"What is it?" Rep asked.

"I do not know yet, but never have I seen all of the Fleshless react simultaneously. Normally they move in small groups by unspoken agreement, so that I always have some remaining to protect me," Slauson said.

Like a trained battalion, all the Fleshless turned their attention one way in the darkness.

"This looks to be something large," Slauson said.

"Why could it not wait until morning?" Rep rubbed his eyes and pushed himself to his feet.

Zalan let out a large spotlight in the direction that the undead creatures were gazing. On the horizon, four dark wolf-ish shapes stood prowling at a distance. Moving cautiously, they approached as one unit, every step laden with hunger.

"Nightwolves," Slauson reported. "Keep your light on them. They grow into grotesque beasts in the darkness. Nightwolves in the light. Howlers in near darkness."

"Are they not already grotesque beasts? They're really… weird looking," Zalan said.

The Nightwolves looked to be shaped like wolves, but only by their outlines. They were made entirely of a black void and their profile was a thin white line breaking their void from reality. Their eyes were like angled red rubies, gleaming with a hungry power. Their forms shimmered as they walked, the void-like fur on their backs rippled like water with every step.

"Are they strong?" Rep asked.

"One Nightwolf is said to be a good match for someone Level 7 or so. You will need at least 8 Strength to deal any damage to one," Slauson said.

"And what about four? Can we take them?" Zalan asked.

"Well… Normally they hunt alone. I have never even heard of them traveling in packs. But the realm's changes must have brought them together. It is said that you should avoid conflict anytime there are more than two, no matter your numbers," Slauson said.

"Great," Rep said sarcastically, drawing his blade and imbuing it with flame.

The trio took another look at the four creatures making slow progress forward. The Fleshless began walking over as well, going to meet them before they got too close to those they sought to protect.