Long Island

Chapter 39: The conference begins

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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.

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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.'