The party had a fairly uneventful day other than the straw snake. They moved through the grasses at a fast pace due to their excitement of being home. Midnight and the fire spirit were testing the limits of the golem so any rocks that came in to view became things for the golem to jump on. Any trees became opponents to dodge around. And any perfectly flat areas became a running track for them.
The spirits that were with Walker decided to stick close to the party but rush off in to the surrounding area when seeing something interesting. There were a few times he heard them mentioning the odd strange rock or good mana to absorb. It was very impressive watching them all work together to help each other gain more elemental mana. Walker had the feeling that if the staff he was aiming to make didn't end up needed them to combine in to a nature spirit that they would be the ideal team.
Su had been carrying the earth dwelling shield on her back the entire time. The earth spirit had taken up residence sitting on it while watching her back. It didn't seem to be as energetic as the other spirits but instead very calm and collected. The entire party couldn't help but believe it was an exact copy of Su but in earth spirit form. Su didn't seem to hate the idea since she felt a great connection with the spirit. However, the spirit would always react by getting closer to her when anyone would say it.
The only spirit that had completely disappeared was Zephyr. She had rushed in to the sky and was only showing herself here and there. "I'm telling you, it's fine. She is just getting more in touch with the wind up there. I have the feeling that she will spend a lot of time up in the sky like that once we get home. Hopefully the currents up there are comfortable for her." Gil didn't worry that he wouldn't see Zephyr but instead that she wouldn't be comfortable.
"Hey Walker, I've been wondering something." Gil got Walkers' attention as they strolled through the tall grass path. "You said you still need a fire spirit to join you to finish your quest right? How will you find one in the city? I never heard of one being around, but I know that humans don't really go looking for them." Gil had a good point but Walker had already thought of that.
"I was planning on asking the spirits to help me fiend others. I think that awakening the spirits around the city will only help the people out. There have to be a bunch of dormant spirits around that no one ever realizes are spirits. If we can wake them up and also bond with the spirits while we do it, it's a win win. Plus, it should be fun." Walker also saw this as a way for him to improve his sensing of mana. He could try and sense the small amounts of mana being absorbed by dormant elemental spirits.
"I agree. The spirits that were around the elf city were plentiful. I can imagine that there are many that have fallen dormant around the city. I wouldn't put it past some nobles to have them as decorations since they are very interesting and beautiful in dormant forms." Su had thought of this as well and chimed in with her own thoughts.
"I can help when I'm not busy. I'm sure my partner would want more alchemy fire spirits like itself. But, there might also be other kinds of unique spirits. We've met a grand wind spirit with a name, an ice spirit, and a fire spirit that changed in to an alchemy fore spirit. Who knows what there is.' Remey made the biggest point of all. They had no idea what other unique spirits there were in the world.
They were about to continue when Midnight stopped and fell in to a crouch. She growled softly and she summoned her skeletal armor skill. The dragon golem started to release its' spikes for combat form. The two were on full alert and everyone followed suit. There was something wrong and Walker had begun to smell it.
The party had higher levels now and they could move much faster. Especially since they did not get held up changing their planned path. They had reached the very edge of their kingdom and should see the first of the farthest and smallest farms. The operative term was, should.
The smoke that was filling the skies and the fire that they saw in the field of what used to be wheat caused them to fall in to their own serious expressions. The elemental spirits covered behind Walker whole the others went to their dwelling items. This could be very serious.
"Walker, can you make it rain?" The tone Gil used was pained but extremely serious. He had grown up in the farms and loved every bit of open land full of food to support the people and help them grow strong. It was not a stretch to say he had learned the true basics of growing a kingdom through farming.
"I never tried, but I will use every bit of mana I have even if it knocks me out for days." Walker was not sure if he would be able to affect that much, however, the ice spirit moved from behind him and rested in his hand. He felt the water elemental mana start to get pulled from the air around him and condense. The ice spirit was going to make sure that Walker had what he needed to help.
The elemental spirits were the best at knowing the flow of nature. They may love the elements they are made of and what they can do but within reason. The fire elemental spirit loved fire. Natural forest fires would not make it unhappy. However, forest fires caused on purpose or that were not meant to balance nature sickened it. The anger Walker felt from behind him as Remys' partner and to his side as the golem shook, was intense.