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. 

There were easy ones like Fire Elementals, which could manipulate fire, and Water Elementals, which could manipulate water of many sizes depending on their Level, but then there were mentions of ‘Bright Elementals’ with no indication of the kind of power they imbued others with. Fire was the most common by far, all books mentioning the Elemental that Rep said resided at the volcano. It seemed to have not moved from its place for years, and anyone in search of their first Elemental Power often went to get fire for the simplicity of its whereabouts and challenge.

Zalan began organizing the books depending on whether they mentioned anything to do with the Elementals’ location, but every time he asked Rep about a certain place he would find the journey would take months at the least.

Rep sighed loudly as he set down the first book. It was only about fifty pages long, but it had taken him hours. Zalan had spent so much time skimming and organizing the books, that he barely finished three books in that time. He felt woefully unsuccessful and could see Rep share his thoughts. 

“You already read all of that?” Rep balked at the three books next to Zalan. 

“Yeah, they weren’t very long,” Zalan shrugged. 

“What have you found?” Rep tapped his fingers on the table, dreading the idea of opening another book to read at his slow pace. 

“Not much,” Zalan admitted, rubbing his eyes. “Fire Elementals are the most common out there, but there are some that have been seen that have yet to give powers like the ‘Bright Elemental.’ That one sounds amazing, it’s lodged in my brain as something I really want to see. Air Elementals also sound pretty cool, do you think they would give me the ability to fly?”

“I think we have an Air Elemental-powered individual in this very guild. But he is a lower Level, so I do not think his Elemental Power would be too strong. Last I saw him, he was nowhere near the ability of flight,” Rep replied. 

“I also read something about becoming an ‘ascended being?’ If you get five different Elemental Powers, you become ascended and can ‘interact with Elementals.’ Any idea what that’s about?” Zalan asked. 

“Likely something of legends. Anyone can interact with Elementals and receive challenges. And I think it is impossible to have five different powers. The challenges become more difficult with every one acquired. I do not think even the most powerful individuals have more than three at once.”

“What did you find?” Zalan asked, nodding to the small book.

“This is just the tale of an Elemental bringing a storm to the once-large city of Xagon. The storm it brought was so intense that it drove out all of the residents, and those that remained were never heard from again. The story is quite sickening. The Elemental came from the sky suddenly and said it thirsted for blood, then immediately set the storm upon them. Wind, rain, and lightning of never-before-seen extremes terrified the people and killed many. Quite the harrowing tale, but otherwise provided nothing of interest,” Rep explained.

“Wow, I didn’t realize they could single handedly clear out a city. Can people not fight Elementals?” Zalan asked. 

“I do not believe so. I have never heard of someone dealing damage to an Elemental,” Rep replied. 

“What a legend, how long ago was this?” Zalan asked. 

“Not too much of a legend, this was thirty years ago according to the manuscript,” Rep tapped the book. 

“That’s all? And where’s the city?” Zalan asked. 

“About a two day’s journey in the desert. It would be much faster if we could afford a horse. It is in the middle of nowhere. There are no paths leading to or away from the city, as they were left to fade away after the Elemental incident. Travelers know well to avoid Xagon, venturing around it rather than through it,” Rep answered. 

“Oh! Awesome! Can you take me there?” Zalan asked. 

Rep sat up sharply, confusion on his face.

“Why?”

“Couldn’t the Elemental still be there?” Zalan asked. 

“The bloodthirsty one? The one that destroyed an entire civilization on a whim?” Rep reminded.

“Yeah, it drove people away. But you said it yourself that Elementals don’t tend to drift from place to place. It probably settled into its new home by driving out the old residents,” Zalan offered. 

“Not just driving out!” Rep said urgently. “It killed many! The storm was deadly!”

“Is there always a storm going on in Xagon? What if the storm settled down and it’s safe now?” Zalan asked. 

“That does not matter when you are trying to confront the one that can conjure another storm!” Rep countered. 

“You said it’s a two day trip! What if we just go check out the outskirts for a storm? If it’s bad, then we’ll come right back? Otherwise we can go inside the city and investigate and maybe take on a challenge,” Zalan said. 

Rep regarded Zalan, biting the inside of his lip nervously. 

“What if the challenge is too difficult? You are only at the first Level,” Rep said. 

“Then we come back home! You said yourself that the Elementals normally don’t have a time limit to their challenges,” Zalan said. 

“I suppose you are confident you can withstand whatever cruel challenge the Elemental can come up with? What if it is beyond your abilities?” Rep asked. 

“I think we’ll be able to work it out. Besides, do you want to just go check out the city to investigate or would you rather spend the next week reading more things about Elementals?” Zalan said with a coy smile. 

Rep looked at the pile of books in disgust and sighed. He continued to nibble on his lip then breathed loudly and stood up. 

“Fine,” Rep intoned. “But you must listen to me closely once we are outside of the walls.”

“Of course,” Zalan said, beaming as he stood. 

“There can be any manner of monster out there and I do not wish to repeat the disastrous fight that we had with the Flamestriker,” Rep said. 

“Yeah, I already agreed with you, Rep,” Zalan said. 

“And we must be smart about how we travel,” Rep added.

“Yeah, okay, I got it!” Zalan snapped. “Can we get out there already?”

“What?” Rep asked, walking to the door and opening it wide. Zalan blinked as he noticed for the first time that it was night. They had been reading for a while, but he didn’t notice the passage of time with the lanterns glowing consistently within the guild. He also wasn’t sure if the days acted the same in the dream world as they did in reality. He looked out at the city walls and saw the guards patrolling from the top with added numbers. 

“Are we not allowed to be outside the walls at night?” Zalan asked.

“Not unless we are prepared,” Rep nodded, taking a step outside the guild.

“Right, then where are we going?” Zalan asked, following Rep outside. 

“Look at you! You want to go outside the walls like that?” Rep indicated to Zalan’s outfit.

“What? Is it not the right fighting tunic or something?” Zalan asked, looking down at himself. 

“Ha!” Rep laughed. “Fighting tunic! No, not that. You still do not realize what you are missing? I need one, myself,” Rep was greatly amused by this line of questioning. 

Zalan was trying to get to the bottom of the puzzle, knowing he was missing something or Rep wouldn’t have mentioned it. Zalan felt his pockets and again felt like he was missing his phone. That definitely wasn’t the answer. He looked up and shrugged. 

“We are going to get you a sword,” Rep grinned, pulling his broken blade from his sheath.