/*Authors Note:

My mother passed away in March after fighting for nearly two years with cancer. Come to think of it, I started Long Island around the time she was diagnosed. Not that I had written with any noble intention of getting her to read it. Nor had I written in a language she found easy. English is not her favorite language or her first. The subject of virtual reality completely went over her head as well.

But since she was gone, I also thought I should end it and for a long time, that was my intention. Then I woke up one day and realized. Her life was incomplete. The story is incomplete.

*/

After resolving the mystery of the foxes, Raka found himself even more mystified. The ability of the foxes raised several questions. Primary among them was why did it not affect the dwarves? The dwarves were definitely not deaf! Sound should affect them as well.

'There are few possibilities. One is that it is a racial ability of the dwarves. Maybe confusion like negative status effects do not affect them. Or it could also be related to earth magic.'

Dwarves were after all highly influenced by the Earth element. If it was related to the magic, could there be a way Raka could learn it too?

'Hmm...even if it's a racial ability, it could still have come from earth magic.'

While thinking of such things, Raka was leisurely watching some dwarf players hunt. Why, well because hunting foxes had become boring. Siren foxes were literally cowards. If their confusion did not work, they would always bolt away. Even if they outnumbered him a hundred to one!

'Kinda takes the fun out of hunting,' Raka sighed. He persisted only because he had promised himself to eat fox meat for a month. Otherwise he wouldn't even bother with them.

'Yet all of this is only possible due to this Buzzing spell scroll.' Raka took one out from the bag and looked at it. From the outside, it simply looked like normal folded paper. Like every other spell scroll he had seen. Yet, this simple piece of paper could change into a variety of complex magics.

'Researching spell scrolls should be a full time occupation!' The potential of spell scrolls was just that much.

Raka stared at the Buzzing spell scroll. "So near yet so far..." He sighed. This spell scroll potentially held the secret to sound magic. He often wondered what would be classified as sound magic.

'Like fire magic produces fire, would any magic which produces sound be called sound magic?' Raka wondered. But the siren foxes were not classified as magical creatures. They were more like real world bats. Still, one could argue that magic did play a part in their evolution like it did with the dwarves.

So at what does point sound becomes sound magic! Or fire becomes fire magic, or air magic, or water or light, etc!

'Magic cannot be separated like that. It's like when you breathe, you breathe air and magic. When you drink you are drinking water and magic. It is part of this world and cannot be considered separate. Hmm....truly a difficult thing to conceptualize.'

To ponder the mysteries of this world was not really Raka's intention when he chose to watch the dwarf players hunt. No, he was watching them to confirm something. He wanted to verify that dwarfs really didn't get confused by the sound. After all, there is suspicion and there is verification.

And he did confirm that dwarves are seemingly immune to confusion effects of the foxes. 'Till what extent does their immunity last though? It cannot be that they are immune to every negative status effect. Perhaps it is the sound medium that they are immune to. Would smell work? Can't say...'

'Knocking them on their heads should work.' Raka laughed as he watched a dwarf player take an amazing tumble. Watching dwarf players hunt was a delight. Especially, since he found a couple of newbies.

Unlike Gurrow village, Hya'cinth did not have an Age barrier. Which meant that anyone, ANYONE, could come out and hunt. Now what seemed too easy to Raka, did not mean that it was really easy. After all, life is relative, so was the game.

Atleast, the veteran players who had chosen to convert from the human race knew what they were doing. These newbies were...

"Aah...it hurts! You fu**king dog! Let me get my hands on you!" (male voice)

"Aah...no...ouch! It hurts....it hurts! Damn! Let's run away...!" (female voice)

The male dwarf smashed down a thick piece of wood onto a fox, which easily avoided it. Rather it danced all around it. To present a perspective, these two were fighting a single siren fox.

'Why did it not attack in a group or run away cowardly?' Raka did not know.

'Maybe it is able to understand the level of danger. Like a jackal would attack a baby but would run away from a tiger!' Raka guessed.

"Stay still you mongrel!" roared the guy as he kept smashing the piece of wood down like a roughshod club. Even the woman/girl/female had picked up a stick from somewhere and was trying to hit the fox.

'Um..... trying is an overstatement.' The siren fox was a small dog like creature, similar in size to real world foxes. They did not have much agility though their running speed was fast. Again, that was relative.

'Idiots! Do they have some stats or not. They definitely don't have the endurance stat. O heck.. seems like they are about to die. Haha..' Raka was quite amused.

And then the fox bit the leg of the guy and he went down screaming.

"Aaaaaah!" The guy cried.

"Please help us..." The girl looked directly at Raka as she pleaded.

Well, Raka was not exactly hiding.

Raka sighed. He simply waved his hand a bit. A small explosion blasted the fox away. It crash landed a few feet away and did not rise again.

'About 40 Life...' Raka guessed.

"Identify"

[p=center]Siren Fox[/p]

Class: Animal

Siren Fox lives in the forests outside of Hya'cinth. Extremely territorial and will attack if you invade its territory. Relies on sound to confuse its prey to hunt. Low intelligence. Feeds on 

rats, fruits, berries and some wild grasses.

Additional information has been added:

Age: 5

Life: 0

Cooking it may increase stamina. A very rare chance to increase endurance.

Tailor skills may change its skin to various things.

The siren foxes had almost a quarter of Life points as the rabbits. 'Weak...too weak!' Raka grumbled. It was like a level 50 character fighting against a level 10 monster. Age was unlike levels in any other game. An Age 5 Siren Fox, even though stronger than other members of its race, was still weaker than an Age 5 rabbit. 'What an irony..' Atleast for the newbies.

'My magic damage should be greater than my physical damage...' Raka thought. Ofcourse, what he considered magic damage was simply any damage done due to his magic. The game did not differentiate between magic attacks and physical attacks.

In the case of Raka's magic attacks, he relied on pre-stored energy which he could transform at any time. 'Limited by my mana, though it has also increased a bit.' Potentially, with the amount of energy he could safely control right now, he could double his attack power using magic.

So much that, the siren foxes would die in one hit. 'I don't even have to take out my staff for them.' Raka sighed.

"Thank you! May I know who you are? Are you one of the Goddess's children or a resident?" The female dwarf asked while checking up on the male.

'Newbies!' Raka smirked inside. "I am a player and who might you be?" He said.

"Ah hello. I am Sally and this is Jaguar." The female dwarf said.

"Ah..hi. I am Raka. Are you two new in the game?" Raka asked.

"Yes. We just started today. Kinda just hopped out straight from the library. Didn't think we would run into high level monsters all of a sudden. There's really no info about this place on the forums." Sally complained.

"Sally...lift me up. I still can't move my body. Why is it so painful! Is there a setting we need to change!" Jaguar complained as he laid on the ground.

Raka simply sighed.

"Hmm..have you guys got any stats yet?" Raka could not help asking.

"Ah yes. We got the Strength stat. That was pretty easy. But we haven't been able to get the other stats. We asked a fellow player and he said that the fastest way was to hunt. But it is so painful. How did the others do this! Please tell us!" Sally begged.

"And how long does it take to recover?" Jaguar asked in a pitiful voice.

"Um...recovering would take some time, if you don't have the Stamina stat. And without the Endurance stat, it will always be painful. It is true that the fastest way to earn stats is hunting but there are other ways like a training center," Raka replied.

"*Groan... what is wrong with the game!" Jaguar said.

"I told you, we should have found out more before jumping in. It always happens like this..." Sally said.

"It's called being spontaneous woman! What fun would it be if you had your life all planned out!" Jaguar said.

"Hmph! I am sure you are having great fun right now!" Sally said.

"I will leave now." Raka said.

'Was I also like this when I started? Did Lady Altia feel as annoyed?' Raka could not help wondering. He could almost remember when he had started. He had walked in the doors of the battle school and found the most amazing scene. In game, as in life there are a few amazing opportunities which usually turn out to be game changing.

Perhaps, this was his amazing opportunity. If he had not met the two women, his destiny in this game would have been, how you would call it, commonplace. Instead, he was one of the pioneers.

'I wonder how they are doing nowadays...haven't talked to them in ages. I hope the intimacy didn't decrease..' Raka sighed. The one thing he was not eager to find out was if the intimacy decreased over time. For the only way to find out was to actually lose it. 'Better let others figure this out!'

One thing that was the hardest to gain was intimacy. No one would want to lose that. Atleast, not in the game. 'With some exceptions!' Raka thought.

'Another thing I haven't been able to figure out are blessings. How are they triggered? If it was by intimacy, Guran should have given me one too. Is it that you can get blessed only at the start of the game? That would kinda make the right start monumentally important. Would people even play the game if it was like that.' Raka could well imagine the scenario. Like how we keep loading the save point after we die in any game, players would keep deleting characters and then creating them again and again.

'That kinda makes no sense.' Raka thought.

Thinking of various things, Raka started walking towards a quiet place. His communication mirrors were still a secret that he didn't want anyone to find out. Especially, since he had found out how dangerous they really were.

'But I haven't set up any appointment...' A problem presented itself. Unlike a telephone, there was no ringing on the other end to let the other person know. 'If I write it now when would they actually see it?' Both Lady Altia and Lady Verina had set up the communication mirror in their houses. And both of them spent most of their time outside. 'Talk about being diligent.' So unless it was night time, it was highly unlikely he would catch them.

'Come to think of it, I don't know where Neona, Johanna and Jenny have kept their mirrors. Hehehe...only one way to find out...'

"Peek," he whispered to the small eye glass sized mirror. He held it close to the eye and looked.

A room came into view, with a table and a couple of chairs. Lying around on top of the table were various ingredients Raka recognized.

'Ah so Neona put hers in the dining room. No luck there, I guess.' Raka was slightly disappointed. He had expected this, but still, had hoped otherwise. 'Well, not everyone would be lucky enough to get their mirror placed in the bath...especially when they know it is for communication.' Raka mused. 'Anyway, I didn't have much of a chance even then. After all, how many mirrors would she put in the bath!' Cassian was one lucky old dude!

'She must be in her shop at this time.' Raka sighed. It was the middle of the day. He cancelled the magic.

'Let's try Jenny and Johanna. More hope there...' Raka had given each of them a mirror. In his mind, he calculated that if he did that, perhaps they would place them in their own rooms instead of a common place in their house. Which they would have if he had given them only one mirror.

"Peek," he whispered.

'Hmmm..' Raka looked carefully at the new room. From his note, this should be Johanna's mirror. And the most noticeable thing in the room was a comfortable looking bed. "Hehehe..."

He looked at the simply adorned room. The bed had greenish bedsheets which matched the green wall behind it. There were a few green pillows on it. There was some sort of a pattern painted on the bedsheet but from his angle, Raka could not see it properly. On each side of the bed was a small table. One of them had a book and a lamp and the other had a flower vase with some yellow flowers.

Currently, the bed was empty. Well, it was the middle of the day!

"Hehehe..." Raka took out another eye sized mirror and looked into it. Sure enough, Jenny had also put hers in her bedroom. It looked pretty similar to the Johanna's. Except her wall was painted blue. And her bedsheets and pillows were blue to match. She also had two small tables next to her bed with one of them having a vase of orangish flowers. 'What color is that?'

As to the identity of the flowers, Raka's knowledge was extremely limited. Correction, it was non existent.

'Well it is still the middle of the day...' Raka sighed.

Raka hardly ever used the Peek skill. Among all his skills, this was the one which had advanced the least. Since he had learned it, he had probably used it only a couple of times. 'I am a good guy...' The real reason might have been different.

Raka then pulled out the communication mirrors and wrote a time on them. 'Well that's done.'

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Swamy stretched himself as he hopped out of the game capsule. Doesn't matter if the brain was working overtime, the body still needed exercise to avoid problems. He turned his hips side to side and creaked his neck around.

And then he opened up his laptop to check out the forums.

'After the break, I need to go visit that doctor in the game.' Swamy thought. 'Hmm...someone's posted prices of different kinds of wood found in the four islands. Oh, people have found another group quest...wait, it is to help in the upcoming conference.'

Just then a post popped up.

'The ships from the other nations have arrived in Maccaba for the four nation conference.' The author had also attached a small video showing the various royalties embarking from their ships.

'Why Maccaba though? It is located towards the east of the island.' Swamy wondered. The other three islands were towards the west of Khardoum. 'I guess the Queen wanted to dock at Maccaba as she will eventually come to the dwarvish island. But why the other two?'

'Guess there are many things under consideration here.' Swamy shrugged it off. 'I expect they will move to the capital where the conference will take place. Wonder who has come with the Queen? Lady Verina often does things like this so she might have. Or maybe Sambal...he is the advisor. Guess they wouldn't have brought the mirrors on this trip so they wouldn't be available later.'

Swamy then went on to do some random things and then logged back in the game.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raka opened the door of the food shop with a tingling of bells.

"Hello there, ah it's you again." The old lady manning the food shop said.

"Hello again. How goes your day?" Raka asked.

"Very well. What brings you today?" The old lady smiled. A smile is kinda the requirement for a sales position. Unfortunately, very few people can genuinely smile everytime a customer walks in. Perhaps it was her nature or years of practice but it felt quite natural and welcoming.

"Ah..nothing much today. I was on my way to meet Apo. Narsh and just thought I would say hello on the way." Raka replied.

"Oh you are going to visit Apo. Narsh. That reminds me, could you do me a favor, young man. I keep forgetting to refill my prescription and it has started to run low. Usually, I walk down on my own, but my joints seem to be giving a bit of trouble today. Could I ask you to get them?Hope it is not too much trouble."

[p=center]Old Lady's request[/p]

The old lady of the food shop is not feeling well enough to visit the apothecary. Her medicine is also running low. She requests that you bring her the medicine.

Difficulty level: F

Reward: Intimacy increases with Old Lady.

'Finally!' Raka sighed.

"Sure I will bring it. It will be no trouble." Raka smiled.

You have accepted the quest.

"Ah, then please take this prescription with you. Thank you very much young man. Here have an ostri egg on the house. I just boiled them." The old lady smiled.

"Then I will gladly accept it. I do like them." Raka said.

On his way to the apothecary, Raka munched on the boiled ostri egg. Ostris, not to be confused with ostriches, were birds who inhabited the hills near the mine. Their eggs however were as large as an ostrich egg. Raka hadn't seen them before but he always imagined them to be kind of the ostriches that could fly. 'Well, I haven't actually seen an ostrich either.'

Often, miners would have the eggs for a snack if they could reach them. The difficulty was how and where the ostris built their nests. They built it hanging off cliffs.

It was said that looking at several ostri nests, tied to each other and hanging on the side of a cliff resembled how some fruits hang off a tree in a bunch. For safety, the birds usually chose extremely sheer cliffs. In addition, their nests were completely covered and surrounded by various sticky string like things. So much that if another bird or person approached carelessly, they would end up getting tangled within it. For a bird, that was fatal. For a human, well, gravity was fatal anyways.

Yet, there were still people who dared to collect them. Just because, it tasted so good. As per an unwritten rule, hunters only collected the eggs for this particular month only. This allowed for a seasonal supply and also continuance of the species. 'A good thought!' But it did make them a limited period item only. There were various ways to cook them, but most people agreed that the best way was simply boiling them. They were just that good! Raka relished his ostri egg as he walked.

"Hello, I am Raka. I have an appointment with Apo. Narsh." Raka said to the nurse at the reception.

The nurse looked up his name in a register and said. "Ah yes, please wait a bit. He is still with a patient. I will call you when he becomes free."

Raka took a seat next to several other dwarf patients and found to his surprise that he actually could fit in those chairs. It was just that they were quite low so that when he sat, his knees almost reached his chest. 'Kinda like chairs when I was in grade school. Thankfully dwarves come in all weights and sizes, otherwise they wouldn't make chairs where I could fit.' To the other eyes who were looking at his strange posture, he could only give an awkward smile.

A little while later the nurse called out."Mr. Raka, please go in."

Apo. Narsh turned out to be a dwarf. 'Was that even needed...' He was dark skinned like most dwarves of the southern kingdom. He was also kinda slim for a dwarf, a fact that made him feel a little taller. Wearing that typical white coat doctors usually wear, however, underneath were some sort of clothes which looked like leather. The full legged pants almost looked like black jeans. 'Though I think that jeans haven't been invented yet..'

"Please sit." Apo. Narsh spoke. "I do not deal with human patients so I might be lacking but do tell me your problem."

"Ah...how should I say it. I have been feeling a little under the weather for a couple of days. A little weakness. Almost like I am coming down with something. I am not sure if I am simply imagining it so I came to get a checkup." Raka said.

"Hmm...let me see. Could you open your mouth...hmm...say aah..hmm."

Then he took out something that looked to be made of small strips of metal joined at the ends like a rhombus or a baseball diamond. At one end was a round rubbery something. At the opposite end was a hollowed out piece of wood, cut off in half, attached. The Apo stuck the rubbery thing to Raka's chest and covered his ears with the hollowed out wood.

'It's a stethoscope?! Wonder what era is it from?' Raka was surprised. Though he couldn't recognize the design, it's function kinda explained what it was. 'Dwarves seem to be medically advanced as well.'

"Please take off your shirt and lay down on the bed there." Apo. Narsh said.

"Right....eh?" Raka couldn't help himself. Apo. Narsh had just pulled out some other things which looked more like metal torture devices than medical tools. "You aren't planning on using those right?"

"Ah yes.. do not be scared, they may look scary but are painless." Apo. Narsh smiled. Raka shuddered.

Ten minutes later, Raka dressed. Thankfully, his worst imagination did not turn into reality. Although he got poked at lots of different, including somewhat unmentionable and illogical places, it was as Apo. Narsh had said, painless.

"Hmm. I am sorry but my knowledge of the human body is limited. But according to me, you don't seem to have anything wrong. Nor does it look like you have contracted a disease. I cannot be certain though and it would be best to have yourself checked by apothecaries of your race. I can only give out some tonics which may help your situation. What do you think?" Apo. Narsh said.

"Um these tonics will not harm me, right? I mean would it work on humans?" Raka said.

"Please do not worry. I do get a few human patients from time to time and these tonics have had good results on them. I cannot treat the diseases of your race but your biology is not much different than us dwarves. Rest assured, the tonics cannot harm you, even if it does not help." Apo. Narsh reassured.

"In that case, please give me the tonics." Raka said.

Apo. Narsh took a wad of paper and started scribbling on it. Raka tried to make out what he was writing, but it was more scribbles than legible words and even those were equal to gibberish. 'Doctors everywhere are the same!'

"Please give this at the reception and they will give you your medicine." Apo. Narsh handed him the paper.

"Thank you. Um...the fees?" Raka asked.

"At the reception only. Standard consultancy charge and cost of medicine will be there." Apo. Narsh replied.

"In that case, I will take my leave. Thank you again." And Raka walked out.

"Hi, I would like to get these tonics." Raka gave the paper to the reception lady. The nurse opened a book and started looking up the prices and stocks of various things mentioned in the prescription.

She whispered as she moved along the list. "Alamander powder, nieval leaves, dispora wings, orcyia worm, neothiginst, caothiginst, leora bark...."

"Wait...worm? Did I hear correctly, is there a worm in there?" Raka could not help asking.

"Hmm? Ah yes, orcyia worm. Is there a problem?" She asked.

"Do I have to eat worms?" Raka asked.

"Not directly. It will be ground and mixed with others to make the tonic. You mix it in water to take." The nurse replied.

"...still it's worms....I mean are they even..you know..." Raka fumbled.

"That's what the prescription says and Apo. Narsh wouldn't give you something bad now, would he? Anyways, it's your choice." The nurse glared at Raka.

"Um...it's ok." Raka replied feebly. "How much? Ah there is another prescription of another patient I would like to refill please."

The nurse looked at the piece of paper and said. "Hmm...ah ok. This patient is a regular and maintains a tab. You do not need to pay."

"That will be 5 gold 10 silvers and 10 coppers total. Thank you. Please wait while I get it." She stood up and left leaving Raka feeling more and more depressed.

'Will I have to eat bugs?!'

A short while later...

"Eug! Eug! *gulp haah haah *sigh...."

Disease Resistance increases by 1.

And then...

"BAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!! hah hah... EEURRGHHH!!"

Disease Resistance decreases by 1.

'DAMN IT!!'

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a herculean effort, 'even Hercules would call it a labor', Raka finally increased his Disease Resistance stat back to +1. The tonics worked like a charm and although he could not increase the stat anymore, Raka was still satisfied. It was just that the side effects were a little nauseating, literally.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

'Screw the advanced medical technology! Ugh...I am never eating worms again!!'

And in the process, Raka observed a small problem. 'There is no concept of digestion.' Digestion as mentioned in Biology, the subject, mentioned that anything you eat takes some time to digest before it's effects, namely energy, is produced.

In the game however, the effect was immediate. Drinking the tonic increased his stat. And vomiting it right after, decreased it. 'One step in and one step out.' Raka sighed.

'Well I guess it makes you realize that this is still a game. Not everything is going to be like real.' Like for example in real life, once ingested, not everything will come out of the stomach even if you vomit. The human body just doesn't work that way. Otherwise, someone who had eaten poison could easily be saved by just making him/her spew it out. 'Now that I think, same could be said about eating food in the game. Weren't the effects immediately applied after eating it! Guess I just never noticed it before.'

'Couldn't be helped.' Raka shrugged. After all, this kind of 'situation' never occurred before. 'I wonder how it affects npcs. Do they have instantaneous effects or does the game actually use some kind of digestion principle?' It was food for thought.

But that was for later. Right now,

"Hello Lady Altia. How have you been?" Raka smiled. One of the major advantages and perhaps his privilege was to be able to see Lady Altia with her hair down wearing casual clothes and looking like a normal albeit very beautiful person. To others, she would just be the warrior goddess.

Today, she was wearing a kind of sleeveless pale yellow shirt with some laces over her breasts and some loose pants which could have been pajamas. Her long black hair, which was usually braided, was now hanging loose over her shoulders. From the remaining dew drops and the slightest blush, it could be said that she had walked out of the bath not too long ago.

"Hello Raka. Long time. How have you been? Where are you right now? Got into any trouble yet?" Lady Altia replied.

"Trouble...a little bit but I am fine. I managed to reach the dwarvish island. Currently I am in Hya'cinth." Raka said.

"Wonderful to hear that. So your adventures have already begun. Make sure to treasure your experiences and keep yourself safe. That is the most important." Lady Altia nodded.

"Yes. How about you? Has anything interesting happened? Like maybe you found another disciple?" Raka smiled.

"Haha. How could it be that simple. I have been kept on a tight leash by the other instructors since you have left. No taking disciples out of the village, they said. Not that anyone has caught my eye. You seem to have raised my standards a bit. Better take responsibility." Lady Altia smiled.

"Eh...." Raka shuddered. Lady Altia should have come with a statutory warning. Tigers are cute. Do not play with them!

"He he he...still so cute. Seems you haven't grown up even a little since I last saw you. Work hard." Lady Altia giggled.

"Ah...well. I will try or rather do I have a choice. Anyways I had a couple of things I wanted to ask you..." Raka tried to change the subject.

"Oh...is it that time already. Ah..just to tell you I would like to have it in person. He he he..." Lady Altia smiled.

"I am sure I have no idea what you are talking about." Raka sighed. "I just wanted to ask you about the fight you had the other time. With the beastman."

"Ah guess my expectations were too high. Hehehe...what did you want to know?" Lady Altia said.

"Um..yes. I happened to see your fight. So, I had a question regarding the kind of magic you used." Raka started but just then Lady Altia interrupted.

"Wait! You saw my fight? How did you do that? I am sure you were not in the area at that time...or were you hiding somewhere?" Lady Altia was shocked.

"Eh...ah no nothing like that. Didn't I tell you before that we, the Goddess's children have the ability to share information between us? Like messages and videos. Or maybe I didn't tell you..." Raka said.

"What are videos?" Lady Altia asked.

"Eh!" Raka sighed. 'Now how did I get myself in this situation?' He still didn't know whether it was a good or a bad idea to explain these things to the npcs.

"Um...videos are like memories. Anyone of us, Goddess's children, who has seen or heard something can share his memories to others, if they want." Raka replied after a thought.

"You mean you can share your memories of right now to the entire world?! Even what you are seeing right now?!" Lady Altia suddenly curled up and raised her hands to cover her breasts in alarm.

"Well, I do have that ability. I just don't want to." Raka smirked.

Lady Altia stayed silent for a bit. And then she smiled and said, "He he he...possessive, aren't you?"

'What was that warning again?' Raka shuddered. "ANYWAYS what I was interested in was the kind of magic you used. After thinking about it a lot, I assume that it should be some type of magic shaping technique like Lady Verina's Kraken. Different element, probably air, and different shapes."

What was magic shaping? The principle behind Lady Verina's Kraken magic. Correction, it was the principle behind all magic spells. You gave magic a shape before you launched it. Kinda like creating a round fireball. The Kraken magic was the advanced application of it using water.

Raka had for a long time wondered what kind of magic was involved in Lady Altia's fight. After all, magic that can give you super speed had like a million practical applications. And so he pondered about it everyday but couldn't really figure it out. As for asking Lady Altia, it never entered his head. 'She is the instinctive type. And one of the disadvantages is that they didn't really have to think so much about their magic. Just imagining how it would look like would often enable them to do magic. Which kinda makes getting explanations from them a pain in the ass!'

After all, if you didn't really think about it, how were you supposed to explain it to others! 'Kinda like Newton with the falling apple. Everyone knew about falling down. No one could explain it. Or maybe it is like walking. Everyone walks. How many can explain how?' Lady Altia suffered from the same problem. 'Atleast with regards to magic.'

Raka thought about it everyday but it was like the lightbulb never lit up. And then one day in real life, while he was looking at the clouds, he saw an airplane flying up above. Brainflash!

'Narrow minded idiot! What was possible with water was also possible with air. Just that the shapes are different.' He had smacked his head. If Kraken magic could exist, then it implies any other elements could be shaped as well. And the answer was in the clouds. Literally! Magic shaping the air element. 'What other element could not be seen on the video?'

'What kind of shapes though...' He had thought for a bit and ding, a bell rung. 'The airplane!' What was speed. Increasing thrust and decreasing friction or drag. And how did it achieve that? 'The nose cone!' An airplane's nose cone was specially designed to cut air and reduce drag. In fact the faster the aircraft, the narrower the nose would become. 'What if you could create the nose cone using air magic?'

This was like the 'eureka' moment. Suddenly, he was enlightened to a lot of possibilities. 'And why stop at that. Thrust is definitely possible. After all, didn't my flying magic work due to that. And then...' It was like all sorts of ideas were popping up in his head.

'The only thing I can't explain would be the disappearing act. Either she was really as fast as a bullet which will make her superwoman! Or there is some play with light magic here.' After all, you only 'see' something when light reflects off them and reaches your eyes. 'And I still remember Lady Verina's introduction to light magic. She had become invisible, right?'

Ofcourse, these were only the most likely possibilities.

"Hmm your guess is correct. I did use magic shaping of the air element. Though, if you want me to explain that would be a little difficult. Verina is better at this kind of thing." Lady Altia fidgeted a little bit as she answered.

"That's ok. I just wanted to know if I was right. Now that I know, it's ok. Even if I figure out how it works, it is still too advanced for me to use." Raka said.

"Oh seems like the lil' eggplant has grown a little bit. Ah...it makes me happy and sad. He he he will you turn up to be a rabbit or a wolf I wonder.." Lady Altia smiled again as she moved one finger to her lips suggestively.

"Ohhh L..leave that for when I grow up. I had another question. Where do you source the armor from, the one's you give to graduates?" Raka quickly shifted the topic.

"Oh that. We make them. I mean the army makes them up in a village up north. Most of our weapons come from there." Lady Altia replied.

"By any chance do you know how they make them? More importantly what kind of materials do they put for various magics? Is it possible to know which magic material gives what kind of effects?" This was an important question. The one thing Raka lacked most was Vitality. Especially since no one had discovered a way to increase it. And losing two points because of dying was, quite literally, a threat to his life. 'It is my Life!' Armors had options and among them was Vitality. It was a practical way to increase them, for now.

"That I don't know. I have never been much interested in crafting. Why don't you ask Verina? She might know more about this." Lady Altia replied.

"Oh in that case, thanks for your time Lady Altia. I will call upon you again."

"I will be eagerly waiting. He he he.."

Raka sighed.

"Greetings Lady Verina, you look lovely as usual." Raka greeted.

"Oh Raka, how have you been? Flattery right from the start. I am suspicious now." Lady Verina couldn't help smiling.

There were two kinds of people. One who changed greatly with small changes. 'Like that glasses girl, who took off her glasses and became an idol.' But generally, it was more like their various faces gave different feelings. Like Lady Altia. In a battle uniform, she was the fierce stunning goddess. In casual clothes, she was a warm lovely woman. Even though they sound the same, the feelings one had after looking at them, changed completely.

On the other hand, were the type of people who looked the same no matter what they wore. 'Ok maybe their cuteness level went up or down depending on situations, but they would still be defined as cute. Even if they changed clothes, or changed their hair, it was more like they were adding to their primary cuteness and did not become fierce or ugly or whatever. 'Really tough to explain!' It was more a matter of how one felt after looking at them.

Based on the two types, Lady Verina definitely belonged to the later. You could see her in a thousand ways, and still recognize her like, 'Oh! that's the lovely Lady Verina. She would look pretty even in rags, kinda feeling.'

Currently, she was wearing a pale green dress, while half lying, correction, being lazy on the couch.

"I am well. I have reached Hya'cinth for now." Raka said.

"Eh...Hya'cinth already. Didn't you stop in Maccaba?" Lady Verina asked.

"Hmm..well, not really. I am out to see the world. Can't really stop at one place for a long time. Wait one sec. How do you know I stopped in Maccaba?" Raka asked.

"Ho ho ho. Surprised? I got friends all over the place you know. I just asked them to look out." Lady Verina winked.

Raka sighed. 'Kinda explains it. She does travel all the time. And I did register in the port of Maccaba. Considering it is a major city, no doubt she has acquaintances there.'

Raka had always wondered what kind of work Lady Verina did. She was like a diplomat and not part of the secret service, 'rather if she was a spy, Mata Hari would have to take retirement', of that Raka was almost certain. 'Although it was also possible she was some kind of representative for the magic institute/association/thing!'

"Anyways, nice to know someone was taking care of me." Raka smiled.

"Nothing like that. I was simply interested in knowing if you reached Khardoum safely. It wouldn't be good if you drowned after all the training I gave you." Lady Verina smiled.

Raka almost choked. 'What was she giving me...swimming lessons?!'

"Well, as you see I did not drown and am doing well. How about you?" Raka asked.

"Hmm...very busy. Since Sambal left, most of his work has fallen on my head. Ah my poor head..." Lady Verina's blonde head shook as she stretched her neck. "I could sure use a massage right now. Come flying back, will you."

"....Right! As if that will happen. Doesn't anyone else know how to give a massage? Preferably a female." Raka asked.

"No one. I tried asking the assistants, but even though they were eager, they were no help. Somehow things happened and it has now become like a competition to learn massaging techniques. Cynthia has almost become crazy trying to find someone to teach her this skill. I wonder why they are so excited?" Lady Verina sighed.

'I can guess. But no way in hell am I going to tell that to her!' Raka smiled. "Isn't it a good thing, for you I mean? Maybe someone will become good enough and then you won't need me."

"But what do I do in the mean time?! And what if they are not as good as you? I now understand what they meant by not eating too much stag meat. Too much of a good thing is bad. It's all your fault! Hmph!" Lady Verina pouted.

"I sincerely apologize." Raka laughed. "By the way, you said Sambal left. Is he accompanying the Queen?"

"Yes. This conference is turning out to be a bigger deal than expected." Lady Verina said.

"Is it because of the pirates? I mean it is a big deal but weren't they like an isolated incident?" Raka asked.

"Sambal doesn't think so. According to him, the pirates showed a remarkable stupidity by sneaking onto the island. And also amazing cleverness in their plans afterwards. Either they are stupid or they are clever, they can't be both." Lady Verina shrugged.

"I can understand. It means that there was more underfoot which was hidden because of their movements." Raka nodded.

"Sambal certainly thinks so. And the Queen agrees. Even more there is the question of the rust stone. Even among the dwarves, it is a rarity. How would a pirate get his hands on it?" Lady Verina said. "But the biggest reason is you, I guess. The arrival of the Goddess's children have completely changed things you know." Lady Verina laughed.

"Ah! Is that so. It is the first conference after we arrived I guess." Raka nodded. It was the single biggest change which had happened to this world in several million years after all. 'Wonder if this is how it would look like when aliens arrive on Earth.' Raka smirked.

"Oh that reminds me, I also wanted to ask you about the magic materials used in armors and weapons? Do you know?"

"I do know a few. There are just too many magic materials. And even among them, many variations. Speaking about them will take many days." Lady Verina replied.

"Ah in that case, could you just tell me about a material which increases Life?" Raka asked.

"Increases life? You mean something which allows you to live longer? You are not talking about mythical immortality elixirs, are you? I will warn you they are just a myth. You should never listen to those who say otherwise. They are just trying to fool you!" Lady Verina said.

'Great! How am I supposed to explain this!' Life was a stat. And it literally meant life, atleast for a player. On the other hand, what did it mean to an npc? 'Should I say living longer in a fight? That sounds ridiculous even to me!'

"Um...I am not talking about immortality. In any case, do you know what magic materials are used to make the battle institute's armor for graduates?"

"Let's see. Of the magic components, there is iron, steel, leather, bronze, sometimes silver, a little asbesto, choke...and some other things like bones." Lady Verina answered. Ofcourse, when she mentioned iron and steel, she meant, magic iron and magic steel. "Ah but simply looking at these things won't help because there are variations based on what kind of magic element they have affinity to."

Raka understood that. Magic materials, especially metals, were prone to having magical affinity with magic elements. That is, there can be fire affinity magic iron and also water affinity magic iron. Depending on the environment, the absorbed magical energy changed. Sometimes there could even be affinity with multiple elements or even none. The later was absolutely treated as a treasure.

"Hmm. I am not actually looking for simple things. How about things which can protect your life when worn?" Raka asked.

"I am not sure what you mean. But if it is not some kind of bone, you are maybe talking about asbesto or choke. Both of them have some kind of protective ability." Lady Verina replied after a thought.

'Worth a try, I guess.' Raka thought. "Thank you Lady Verina. I wanted to buy some armour and knowing these things certainly helps."

"You are welcome. So what are your plans after this?" Lady Verina asked.

"Not sure. I am just taking one day at a time." Raka said.

"In that case, you can contact me more. Somehow it feels nice talking to you. I wonder why..." Lady Verina smiled.

"Definitely. Later then. Good night." Raka cancelled the magic.

"Hello Neona! How are you doing?" Raka said.

"Hello Raka! I thought you forgot about me." Neona smiled.

"How is that possible. Listen...do I have some stories to tell you..." And Raka told her about his adventures. Among everyone he knew, Neona was the only one who would listen to his stories in delightful amazement. Raka could boast all he wanted.

"Hello Johanna...."

"Good evening Jenny...."

His talks with Johanna and Jenny didn't last long. Rather, there was not much to talk about, except sharing a few pleasantries. 'Even in their bedrooms none of them wore a nightgown. How tragic is that!'

But the person he was looking forward to talk the most was Cassian.

"Hello Cassian! Old age treating you well?" Raka smiled.

"Ah. Enjoying the simple pleasures of life." Cassian winked.

"Yes, what is life without all it's simple pleasures." Raka winked as well.

And they laughed.

"Hey old man, I have discovered something interesting and probably dangerous. I thought for a long time about this and decided that I should discuss it with you atleast. Maybe you will have an idea." Raka started.

"Oh. What kind of mysterious thing is it?" Cassian asked.

"See, I discovered something with mirrors. It looks like I can use magic across mirrors." Raka simply came out with it.

"Hmm..do you mean to say that you can do magic on the other end? And why do you need to use mirrors? Are you able to perceive across the bonded objects?" Cassian thoughtfully asked.

"It is a matter of being able to see. If I can see it I can do magic on it. I haven't actually tried with other bonded objects, just mirrors for now. But I should be able to perceive across bonded objects. It's just doing magic would be much easier if I can see." Raka tried explaining as best as he could. "Wait! I can show you."

Raka focused on the cup atop the table on the side and said, "Explode." The cup instantly shattered into pieces.

Cassian looked at the broken cup for a while before he started laughing. "Hmm hmm...well. Hahahaha. Can't help it. It was just a matter of time, I guess."

"Wait, what do you mean by it was just a matter of time?" Raka mused.

"Hah. It is just a natural progression. Or rather it is the middle step. Do you think one can just move on from communication mirrors to discovering Peek magic? The underlying magic is still bonding you know. I had to research it night and day before I came up with the theory of Peek." Cassian explained.

"So you knew that we can use magic across mirrors?" Raka was surprised.

"Yes. Or theoretically it is possible across all bonded objects." Cassian surmised. "If the steps are to be put in order, after learning communication mirrors, you would have learned this fact and then moved on to discovering Peek. In your case, you learnt the first and last step, so figuring out the middle one was just a matter of time, wouldn't you say?"

"Hah...and here I was worried about what kind of dangerous and unique ability I have found and it turns out it is not so shocking! Ah, I was uselessly worried." Raka sighed.

"Wrong!" Cassian replied.

"Eh. What do you mean?" Raka said.

"You were wrong to assume it is not dangerous. And even if it is not unique, it is still very rare." Cassian explained.

"Why?" was the obvious question.

"Remember I told you before, other people are capable of using extreme long range magic. Using magic through mirrors falls under the same category. As long as someone can do magic, it is dangerous. But there are not many people who can actually do it. Even more the theory regarding bonded objects is not generally discussed. Didn't you find it unusual that even though mirrors were a useful communication tool, not many people used them? Why use pigeons otherwise?" Cassian said.

"Eh! I always thought it was because mirrors were expensive." Raka said.

"That is true. But that cannot be the only reason, would it now?" Cassian lectured.

Raka simply nodded. In fact, he had been puzzled by this for a long time already.

"Mirrors are highly regulated. In fact, if we do not trust your magic abilities, we would not let you learn communication magic or even allow you to learn bonding. That is because of the danger you said before. And even when someone gets a bonded object, mirror or not, they need to have it registered. In fact, if it has been sent by someone who is not determined to be trustworthy, the bonded object will be seized and destroyed." Cassian said.

"Oh! I actually didn't know that." Raka said. "I didn't face any difficulty learning it so I naturally assumed everyone could do so." And then Raka remembered. 'Veronica!' A long time ago when he was testing his communication magic while talking to breasts. A strange smile came upon his face while he remembered that scene. After that, he had gifted a communication mirror to Veronica as well, though he had never used it to contact her. 'Well I don't know what to say.'

And he also remembered, how impressed she was knowing that he could use communication magic. 'Now I understand why.' Even she had not been able to get a chance to learn it and he had. 'She must have known about the requirements for learning this magic.'

"You were judged to be trustworthy. That is why you were allowed to learn. And also one of the reasons, I taught you Peek." Cassian nodded.

'Guess the people you know really do matter,' Raka thought. He could guess why he had been deemed trustworthy. 'Guess I need to value Lady Verina more.' Sambal was her teacher, so in a sense, Raka was also his student. 'Isn't this what you call a trust chain?'

"I understand now. So people are simply not allowed to learn bonding and use the communication mirrors. Which is why I didn't see many of them. But you said, it is a rare ability anyway, so does it really matter?" Raka asked.

"Rare ability? No, using bonding and the communication mirrors are fairly simple. Any person, given enough time, should be able to learn. But like Peek, even people who do learn bonding, could never learn to do magic through it. As I said back then, people's preconceived notions are not that easy to change." Cassian smiled.

"Hmm. I understand now." Raka nodded. "But wait, if this is so, then wouldn't it make sense to make bonding magic a secret as well? Like Peek?"

"We could. But there is no point to it. It is not like bonding is a magic known only by a few people. Other countries, other races all have knowledge of this." Cassian sighed.

"Oh, so the only reason that this magic is rare is because people did not discover about doing magic through bonding, due to their preconceived notions? I find that a little hard to believe." Raka said.

"Hahahaha....yes you may think so. As I said, you were shown the door and the destination. You simply discovered a way between them. It may not look like it, but would you have discovered it if you had not learnt Peek is doubtful, don't you think?" Cassian laughed.

"Do not underestimate people's beliefs. Just in Ilmentia island, even though many people have learned bonding and communication magic, only three people understand the concept of long range magic through bonded objects. And only two can successfully use it." Cassian added.

"Who are they?" Raka was curious.

"The three people who understand, would be you, me and Sambal. But only you and Sambal are capable of actually doing it." Cassian smiled.

"Eh..how about you? Aren't you able to do it?" Raka was shocked. A person who could explain so well about it, not being able to use it?!

"Do not be so shocked. It's not like I don't know how to do it, it is just that after suffering this accident I have become unable to do it." Cassian sighed.

"Oh! I am sorry. I did not realize..." Raka became quiet.

"Don't worry about it. It is a thing of the past. But as I said, it is rare. Sambal has a particularly free mindset regarding things which is why things such as the Goddess's children and magic through bonding are perfectly acceptable to him." Cassian simply smiled.

Raka understood what Cassian was talking about. 'Preconceived notions are a powerful thing. I must make sure I do not end up making my own.' For example, a particular preconceived notion was that this was a game. So maybe it wasn't. 'Ha ha ha...very funny!'