Long Island

Chapter 10: Burning!

Please Note: Statements between % something in italics % are game system messages. 

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It started with a BANG...literally!

Raka was lying on the floor, for the umpteenth time since starting this game. He looked at the white ceiling above him high up. A sweet laughter sprung nearby. 'She has a lovely laugh' was all the thought he could manage before the world lost focus. He had just been defeated by his own magic as the fire he was trying to conjure exploded at him.

"And that's what happens when you lose focus" he heard her voice say almost in his dreams.

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Raka had been continuing his practice. He went to the magic institute to try to concentrate and find the sense for energy, all day. In the evening he used to go to Neona's to make some money. So far he was making money much more easily than he was perceiving energy. He did not expect it to be easy, on the contrary he expected it to be quite hard considering there was no help forthcoming and he had to rely on luck as luck would have it. And even luck seemed to be unlucky. It had been over a week in real life, with Raka trying to get a feel of energy, forget learning magic.

He was getting frustrated by his complete lack of progress. Day by day, he kept trying and trying without success. Not that Lady Verina ever got upset. Everytime she came to check on him, she quietly observed him trying.

"Hmmm, keep trying" was all she said, and walked away with nary a hint of what he was supposed to do.

'Hah! This is impossible. The more I try to concentrate, the more I lose that feeling. What do I do?!' Raka reflected on his problem. He had gotten close to the feeling of that day, when he saw those colors, a couple of times. Just when he thought that he might achieve it and started to will himself, he would always lose the feeling.

'Lady Verina said that focus is required for magic, but everytime I try to focus I lose the feel for energy. But that is the requirement for magic! Should I abandon magic for now and just concentrate on getting the feel for energy? But those couple of times only happened when I am close to falling asleep. No no! I have to be able to do it willingly in order to learn magic!' Raka thought.

He was sitting on the floor of the large training hall in the magic institute, and looking up at the completely white ceiling. He sighed. He was tired of trying. He moved around again practicing his battle forms as taught by Lady Altia to take his mind off things. Considering he was an intellectual sort, he would have never guessed that exercise would become his favorite time pass. After a while he got tired enough. He laid down to sleep, hoping for a miracle. Raka had decided to focus on getting that feeling back once again. Maybe this time he could find some hints. He closed his eyes and let him fall asleep.

The colors were everywhere. He was again in a state where he could not think, just feel. (*Bruce Lee) But he remembered the facts. Who he was, where he was and what he was doing! This time Raka did not focus on the colors. He simply let them flow as they were flowing. He did not look at a particular color, just peeked out of the corner of his eyes.

This time Raka wanted to let the feeling continue as long as it can. He looked at himself again, a being made of lots of colors. He looked side from side, not focusing, but simply passing over things beside him. He saw his staff with which he was practicing, colors in the stick form. He tried to look at walls and ceiling, but he could not find their shapes. 'Maybe I can only see whats near me'. He tried to move his hands and feet around to get a feel of moving, he saw that the color shapes for his arms and legs moved. But somehow he did not get the feeling that he was moving. 'Why is that' he wondered. He walked where he thought was the nearest wall...and soon he found its shape. He changed direction, and reached the rooms near the door of the hall. He recognized them from their shapes. He tried opening the door to the weapons room, but he could not feel the door. On instinct, he walked on and found himself being able to go through the door.