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

Yelsa took an oblong route to the center of the floating city. Avoiding all the prying eyes she could, it was clear she knew the city like the back of her hand. At one point she peeked her head around a corner and signaled everyone to stay back. Stepping out of cover, she exchanged pleasantries with someone and waited for them to leave, then they were on their way. Zalan hated the slow speed at which they moved, wanting to be fighting Morloch already. Additionally, he wished he had spent more time trying to figure out bending light in order to become invisible before leaving Yelsa's home.

Yelsa stopped abruptly and turned her whole body around, looking grim.

"We are here. And so is he," Yelsa murmured. "Seated in the center, just out of view from here."

"Alright, groups of three. We'll split into me, Rep and Yelsa. Then Gorb, Enzo, Magnolia. And Slauson, Dimak and Moss," Zalan whispered.

"Dear Lord, is there any reason I must be paired with him?" Slauson asked, looking at Moss who smiled back.

"Yeah, Enzo and Magnolia fought closely with an Elemental Air user before, they should be familiar with how to work together. Me, Rep, and Yelsa fought and killed an Elemental Dragon before, plus Yelsa has a bow that is powered by light which works well with my power. And you, Dimak and Moss all watched one another fight in the tournament, so you should already be familiar with each others' strengths and weaknesses," Zalan said.

Slauson frowned in thought, shying from the eyes waiting for a followup complaint. He shrugged slightly.

"I had not considered that you actually thought the groups through," he admitted.

The fighters turned back to Zalan, eyes expectant. He ran a hand through his hair, knowing this could be the last time he fought with anyone. If things didn't go as planned, there was no telling what Morloch would be capable of. He breathed in deeply.

"When I first came to the realm, I wasn't in a good place. My mom had just passed away and I didn't know what I was gonna do," Zalan said slowly.

Gorb and Yelsa's eyes went wide in shock, not previously having learned that the mother Zalan insisted he wanted to visit had already passed. Zalan took another breath and continued.

"I'm better now, and that's thanks to everyone that helped me in my time of need, especially all of you," Zalan said, looking between his allies. His eyes lingered on Rep who nodded respectfully with a small gracious smile. "And I'm really, honestly grateful. My mom always taught me that gratitude is best expressed in action. I'm trying to pay the kindness the realm gave me by healing it of a truly evil individual. I'm gonna put my all into this, and so should all of you. Because you have such a wonderful realm worth protecting."

"Well said. It has been an honor and a blessing to travel with you, my friend," Rep said, grinning.

Smiles and nods were granted to Zalan in appreciation. Yelsa wiped a tear from her eyes and steeled herself.

"We should split and be prepared. Gorb, go around that edge and no one should see you. I shall take Zalan and Rep this way," Yelsa pointed.

"How will we know when to start attacking?" Moss asked.

"As soon as you see Yelsa's first arrow fly," Zalan said.

The others nodded. Gorb turned and took his group of Magnolia and Enzo around the other way.

"I enjoyed what Zalan had to say, but what did he mean when he said 'when I first came to this realm?'" Enzo asked Gorb as they walked.

"Yes, multiple times he has spoken of this other world. What does it mean?" Magnolia asked.

"A good question. We have much to discuss and little time to discuss it," Gorb said as they slid behind a building.

Yelsa moved and Zalan waved to the remaining Moss, Slauson and Dimak before following.

As Yelsa took them out closer to the open center of the city, she was cautious to remain behind the last line of buildings so as not to be seen by Morloch and his guards. Zalan had a chance to get a good look at the open area ahead. It was easy to see why they called it a quarry. Broken slabs of dilapidated buildings littered the ground in stacks that looked like they could have been mines. There were few outcroppings from the foundations that looked like they might be worth hiding behind if Morloch attacked them head-on. Behind a few buildings men with weapons in hand were dozing off, presumably watching out for outsiders like Rep and Zalan to fend off against.

Minutes crawled agonizingly slow as Yelsa positioned them on a far end. As soon as she came to a halt, Zalan's heart went tight. They sat under the eave of an abandoned building, with a straight line of sight to the quarry. In the center of the quarry stood Morloch.

He was berating one of the inhabitants of Aetheria, throwing his hands up and dismissing him aggressively. The resident sulked as they walked away from the quarry and Morloch took a few steps back and sat on what looked like a rudimentary throne built from broken homes. He looked out on the clouds passing by and spun a mix of Elemental Sand and Water between his hands passively, looking thoughtful. His face was turned away from Yelsa, Rep, and Zalan. He still wore gloves, which meant he was still hiding the fact he wore eight Rings of Range to extend the reach of his power to unattainable distances.

"Shall we begin?" Yelsa asked, swallowing hard.

"I will be prepared to defend while you gather light to fire the arrow, do not be concerned if he looks this way," Rep said. Then in a much more sincere voice. "It is worthy of repeating: It has been an honor knowing you both. Thank you for keeping me in your company."

"Don't talk like you're going to die," Zalan said, uncomfortable.

"Do not speak as though you will survive," Rep replied confidently. "The only guarantee in life we have is death. The question is when. I will work as hard as I can to ensure it is not now, but if it comes to me… Well, my regret would be that I convinced my wonderful wife to wed me days before my downfall." Rep's lip twitched thoughtfully. Drawing his blade, he took a few steps into the open quarry and prepared himself for any oncoming strikes.

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Zalan turned back to Yelsa and she gripped her bow, ready for action. With a deep, shaky breath, Zalan mentally readied himself to deliver the first blow of the fight. Somewhere in his mind, he was also hoping the first attack would be the last. An arrow going right through a vital point to end it before it began. As much as he hoped, he doubted it would be the case.

Yelsa held out the bow like she was preparing to draw it and a bowstring of light appeared where her fingers drew in the air. Zalan fueled the Artifact weapon with a focused beam of light. The arrow that was produced was so dense with light, Zalan wondered if they had just conjured a physical object.

After the light had refined the arrow to a fine point, the continued supply of energy made it larger. Yelsa's eyes grew two times their size as the arrow continued to expand like it was becoming a spear. She didn't look as though the weight changed at all and she drew the bow all the way back when the arrow reached maximum size — it was longer than Zalan was tall, and looked like a ballista bolt.

Zalan held his breath, and Yelsa breathed out smoothly. Rep looked over his shoulder and gasped at the massive projectile. Zalan pointed his arm forward, signaling the archer.

The moment Yelsa let the deadly projectile loose, it carried a wink of light that reflected off of Rep's drawn weapon and into Morloch's eye. Without even a fraction of a moment's hesitation, Morloch threw an arm into the sky and created a dense wall of sand. The giant arrow of light punctured through it and Morloch cried out on the other end, sounding greatly injured. Zalan couldn't see behind the wall of sand, but was desperate to know how well they'd gotten him. Was the battle over? Then, Morloch's manic voice boomed raucously, fueled and accentuated by Elemental Air.

"Who dares…"

All of the fighters along the edge of the quarry let out a massive barrage of Elemental Powers. A whirlwind of water and sand bullets from one end, flaming rocks and ice-shrouded spearhead from another, and flame and light spinning rapidly toward the single point in the center of the quarry.

More pronounced walls of sand formed themselves beyond Morloch, creating a protective dome and a whirlwind of air around it. Yelsa drew her bow and waited for Zalan to empower it before blasting another massive arrow of pure light. It pierced through the walls of sand and Morloch snarled in annoyance.

"Enough!" Morloch exploded. "Show yourselves."

"Magnanimous One!" one of the guards called, rushing toward him from the outskirts of the quarry. "Who ails you?"

"You fool, can you not see I am under attack?" Morloch demanded.

The walls of sand burst apart violently, sending particles of sand all over the quarry as Morloch jumped high into the air, scanning the area below him. Zalan, Rep, and Yelsa pinned themselves behind the building they were closest to, hoping they still had some semblance of a surprise attack against Morloch.

"Where are they?" the same guard asked.

"You are distracting me!" Morloch snapped loudly.

A tornado of air grabbed and threw all guards in the area into the skies and space beyond the quarry. Zalan was almost certain one or two of them were thrown entirely off the city in the sky.

"There you are!" Morloch said loudly, just out of sight of Zalan.

Zalan could hear a tornado of air and sand dashing across the quarry, followed by Enzo calling out in frustration. Magnolia shouted something, but it was difficult to hear her over the wind whipping the building.

"He's focused on the other group, come on," Zalan said, dipping out of cover.

Eyes wide in shock, Zalan witnessed Morloch had rushed across the quarry and grabbed Enzo by the throat. Magnolia blasting Morloch's face was a firehose of sand while Gorb struggled to pry Morloch's hand open. Morloch redirected all the sand flying at his head around him, leaving him and Enzo face to face. Enzo's head was blue, his throat constricted tightly, struggling wildly to free himself.

"Who are you? How did you arrive here? Did you fly in on the monster that I destroyed?" Morloch screamed into his face, Enzo's hair flying back at the force of his piercing cry.

"Yelsa, keep firing at a distance," Zalan said quickly. "Rep, let's go help them."

Zalan and Rep darted forward, throwing as much power as they could at Morloch as they ran. Rep threw his sword, imbued with Elemental Flame and Zalan fired a direct shot of light at the back of Morloch's head. Without looking at it, Morloch slammed the incoming sword into the ground with a mix of fire and air. Zalan's light managed to burn the back of his hair and Morloch spun around, tossing Enzo's body away like a ragdoll.

Less than fifty feet away from one another, Zalan and Morloch finally made eye contact. Zalan could see that Yelsa's first arrow managed to strike Morloch in the side of his head, a line of blood streaming down. Just a few inches to the right and they would have finished the battle before it began. Rep and Zalan came to a stop as Morloch floated toward them. Gorb and Magnolia ran to check that Enzo was still alive.

"You," Morloch said to Rep and Zalan, venom in his voice.

"Just 'you?' Seriously haven't learned my name by now?" Zalan asked, more than a little disappointed.

"I don't know if he ever learned it," Rep said.

"More than once, you escaped death at my hands, by the very skin of your teeth. Yet you insist on returning to face me again. If you insist on dying by my hand, I will oblige. I assure you you will not escape this time," Morloch said.

"Yeah, neither will you," Zalan said, imbuing his body in powerful light.

"A new power!" Morloch barked a laugh. "I may spare you so that I can access it myself next time I find a Transfer Table. Better yet, I shall demonstrate my magnanimity and spare you all and assess which Elementals are missing from my collection! The rest of you can be used as collateral to ensure the willful transfer."

Morloch leaned aside abruptly as an arrow of pure light whiffed right past his skull. He glared in the direction of Yelsa.

"Must all my former students be so ungrateful?" Morloch asked himself.

A mix of water, sand and air spiraled toward Morloch from behind, spinning like a drill toward the small of his back. With a flick of his wrist he shot it back at the attackers, Gorb, Enzo and Magnolia. Then wooden spearheads covered in fire, ice and earth rained down upon Morloch. A tornado of air tossed it all away, even as Zalan tried to distract him with light to his eyes. Morloch blocked it with a mix of sand and fire in front of his face.

"I think I understand now," Morloch said, looking around. "You are spread out. Spread thin."

He spun in place and pulled his arms to his side like he was throwing double doors open. A vortex of air spun wildly and dragged Zalan's companions in from the sidelines, hitting them with whatever parts of the quarry weren't attached to the ground. Zalan and Rep ducked down, gripping desperately to anything beneath them to not be carried away. Zalan could see his allies were swept up in the powerful wind, spinning out of control. Bloodied and cut, each one of Zalan's friends were tossed next to him.

"His Elemental Air… It is unmatched," Gorb said, rolling to his feet. "I can barely redirect it."

"Do you understand now?" Morloch challenged. "I am so far ahead of you in Strength and Wisdom that I need only use my Elemental Air to defeat all nine of you! Surrender."

No one spoke, but Morloch continued with a grand authority in his tone.

"This realm never knew what to do with the power it was granted. It floundered, allowing anyone unworthy to collect the most coveted experiences of the realm. Elemental Power is not meant for those below Aetheria. They have not earned. They are beneath us. The fact they reside with the Beasts of Slumber is proof enough of that. No more Elementals will benefit us all in the realm. Soon, none will—"

Another arrow of light whipped by him and he ducked below it. He glared at Yelsa who drew her bow once more.

"You will suffer for that," he promised.

Thunder cracked above as lightning darted down toward all of them.