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Chapter 154 - Vol. 3 - Chapter 19

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On the cleared roads where cars transited from place to place with different intents, a specific sedan car that was of a medium-class range was making its way outside of the city, where immediately the roads were cleared out of any traffics, rarely encountering another person going in the same direction as this sedan car was taking.

The road for the car was relatively not too distanced from the city, their destination being about 20km away, it took the family inside the car to reach a small village in about 30 minutes, where down a valley the gates and walls of the property could be visible from the road.

"We reached." remarked a young man at the driver's seat who parked the car closer to the gate, and as he turned the engine off, he heard another man comment.

"It seems you didn't forget to drive, Matei."

"Dad, your car is automatic and even has some advanced AI guiding system, do you really think I would have messed something up on the road?" remarked Mathias, who took his seat belt off, looking at his father, as if he had something on his face.

"Right, the old man taught you to drive the ones with sticks, driving isn't really a problem for you. Tsk, and I told him not to teach you to drive those hazardous machines."

"Haha, what do you mean hazardous machines dad? Weren't you screaming like a little girl when grandpa took you on a ride on his horse?"

"When did you hear that? The old man's horse has two seats."

"He recorded you and showed me when we were lazing around. Also, don't worry, it was only me and him who know about that incident. We aren't that heartless, just you know, grandpa's shenanigans. He likes to jab at you, maybe he doesn't like you for taking mom from him."

"No, is not that. He is just your salty old man."

"Still, dad, is it true that you only drive automatics?"

"Yea, I learned to drive on automatics, so I stuck with it. Is not the end of the world, since as you can see, the era of the manual is over. In some countries of the European Union it is even illegal to drive manual cars on certain roads."

"I guess you are right, I heard about that but I should be fine. Still, I would ask gramps if he would let me give a ride with one of his old cars. Maybe I will take a tour around the village with the boys."

"As if that lazy old man would maintain his car in good state." commented his dad, whose hit got a bit shaken by the person behind him, in question Cristina.

"Stop making fun of dad, or I will rat you."

"Wait, I was joking, no need to tell father about those silly things."

"Yea sure, let's get going boys. Chris, Alex, come give me help to carry the bags."

"Yes mom." responded the two youngsters that sat on the back seats of the car, while Mathias and his dad, George, also got up, seeming to talk about something concerning the road, and some restrictions placed on by the authorities.

"That road sign in the forest, are they starting the process of maintaining the road or what?"

"I doubt that thing is a signal for dangerous roads." responded George, who look at the bags Chris and Alex were holding in their heads, seeming to question how could an old man require so much food, and all sorts of goods, where from what he understood his father-in-law, he would probably not even require them.

Still, to not mention this to his wife, he kept quiet and watched the procession along with his eldest son, and not long after everyone was done, they stepped inside the opened gate, where they only had to push the gate's door stepping inside.

Inside the courtyard, Mathias saw the house of his grandfather along with the extensive garden that spanned a lot of terrain which was now covered by snow, along with a garage. Smoke was exiting from the house chimney, which was a good sign, the old culprit was home, not out on his walks, and with Cristina taking the lead, she checked the door and she opened it.

"He left the door once again opened."

"No one will steal from him mom, don't worry. Let's see what he is up to." responded Mathias, who followed next by, removing his shoes and taking on his feet the ones at the hallway that were reserved for guests.

He could notice that the temperature in the house was up, being maintained, and while his mother, father and little brothers were placing the bags of gifts on the kitchen, he walked toward the living room, and afterwards to his bedroom, where he froze in place at the sight in front of him.

Positioned in the corner of the room, next to a desk where a computer was sitting watching over the alien technology that made waves in the world, the S.A Group VR Capsule, it made him remember what his mom said yesterday about the old man wanting to show him something.

'Old bum, is this what your surprise was? You wanted to rub salt on me when you got your hands on the Satisfy capsule? Bad luck, I already have it.'

'Hmm, the capsule had a communication channel integrated inside the framework. Where was the button?'

Thinking that in his mind, before his parents came to check on him, he went to the capsule and reaching the side of where the location of the arms was, there were some buttons from security ones the maintenance service would access, to other shortcuts.

Pressing a specific blue button that had "Communication" written underneath and immediately he saw reaction from outside, with an old voice voicing his dissatisfaction.

"What bug is this? The AI says someone wants to speak with me outside? Ahh, yes, it must be my little babies. Little Matei, give Grampa some minutes, I have to finish some business inside Grenhaler."

'Don't tell me he too chose the Saharan Empire for his journey?'

Nonetheless, it was a question he could only confirm from the old's man mouth, and in those five minutes his family went to check on him and the old man, only to see the VR capsule and Mathias sitting on the bed looking for something on his phone.

"What is that device Matei?" asked Cristina, confused by the capsule, only to get the response from Chris, who excitedly went to touch the device.

"Hah, why is it so noisy. You children really are morning birds? Fine, I will log out for now."

Saying that, seconds later from the capsule after all the safety mechanisms were released, from inside, as if it was an alien, an old man with trimmed white beard, and long white-hair stepped out, and watched his guests with a smiling face.

His overall appearance didn't give you the impression he was that old, looking as someone in his early sixties, however his real age was that of early seventies, standing upright while looking at his children and grandchildren.

The first thing he did after exiting was to greet them, and starting with kissing Cristina on her cheeks patting her back like a gentle old man, he later on shook George's hand in an amicable way, but by no means that elated by this visit of his.

"Greetings, father. It seems you are in good spirits."

"I guess I have my own reasons. The thing I dreamed since I was a little boy who still had weird dreams when sleeping, has come to life, and damn it feels good being young again!"

"Ahem, grandfather you are saying strange things to dad, you have to explain to him the whole concept of Satisfy before starting boosting about your experiences."

"Ohh, you seem to know something, little Matei. Anyway, come here you little baby." remarked the old man, who welcomed Mathias who got on his feet, giving him a warm hug, and as he was holding into his body, the old man could feel the muscles on his body.

"You got things to talk with me, child."

"Yes sir, I do." replied Mathias in a calm way, while his face had a bright smile, and after the old man hugged his younger grandchildren, he took them to the living room and started talking about the newest events that happened to him, specifically the situation with the capsule.

"Darling, you knew that daddy was always excited about the new advances in VR technology. Don't you remember your mother scolding and nagging me for being subscribed to that newsletter, even though it only cost 5$ a month. Hah, so when the news came to my ears, I made sure to buy the device and let the childish side of me take over."

"It is fine dad, you might not believe it but I know a bit about this game from Matei, Cristian and Alexandru."

"Is not a game darling, is another world and that's the end of the debate. What others might say they can shove their words up their higher places for all I care. There are some things that only after you experience life, you might be able to see, such as human reactions, personalities and interaction one to one. I can help you get connected from my device so you can experience it too."

"... You to George, but you better don't mess with my little baby."

" If time allows it, I will try it." responded Cristina interested by this new experience and new world as her father mentioned it to be.

The way her father talked about the game was similar to his eldest son, who also made sure to make her aware it wasn't just a simple game kids would waste their time around.

"Splendid, registering you for an account will be smooth, we'll connect later since I'll rather talk. Do you want tea or coffee?" asked the old man in a warm tone and instead of bothering the elder Mathias went to make the coffee and tea, having Chris and Alex come with him, giving plenty of space for the Elder to talk with his children.

Seeing Mathias volunteer himself, it made the Elder chuckle, and say.

"I said it to you before little Cristina, but that child resembles your departed mother and also has some of your personality traits. It seems him facing the hardships of living by himself changed him for the better.

Also, little Crissy, and Alex, even though you didn't want them to stay with me during the summer vacations, they don't seem to have turned into spoiled brats."

"It is understandable, they wanted to go to the summer camp, I will not say no, since it is also a character building experience. They would also get bored faster since they picked George's personality."

"Yea, I learned that since they were kids, when you left them with me. It was always little Matei helping me take care of them, as if he was by then a little mature boy."

"Mhm, my little babies grew up into charming boys that will soon leave the nest of their mother. Ahh, one has already taken his flight, only stopping to visit now."

"Now you see how I felt when you went to the University in Cluj? You have to prepare yourself mentally for that time when only the two of you will be in the house."

The old and young kept on talking about familial subjects with the Elder checking on them before moving for the gossip that it gave him some excitement, and along the conversation Mathias came along with the coffee for his parents and a cup of tea for his grandfather.

Then, he too tagged in with the discussion, where the Elder asked him about his experiences inside Bucharest, listening keenly to him from an oversimplified summary of his job activity where it gave you an monotonous impression, but then on the way of his story came the MMA gym, that made the Elder look slightly impressed.

"And, how is it? Are you delivering the beating or you take it?"

"Both ways, since I am sparring and training mostly with professionals. Thus far it was harder for me to win in exchange, but as of late I could see the improvement."

"That's good, I want an invitation to your first match."

"I will be sure to send you the invitation, but the big question is, will you come? Haven't you caught roots in this place?"

"For my little grandson, I will make sure to see how he gets beaten."

Hearing that comment from the old man, the entire family began laughing finding it amusing, and slowly time flew by in such a way, connecting with this interesting old gentleman who had an interesting approach to life and after they done talking, not sure if it was the Elder, but he took both of Mathias parents to his bedroom where he opened his computer that booted up in an instant.

"What's with that long face? This computer has the latest generation processor and graphic cards, obviously it will start flying. Now, let me make an account for you Cristina, George, it will be done immediately." mentioned the old man, who unlike his appearance found his way with the keyboard as if he was a pianist, later on starting asking his two children about their information that he filled the registration form with.

"Done." check your emails for the confirmation, and I'll give you a tutorial about how you connect to the Fantasia World.

"Is this even necessary, dad, is not like we will have time to explore around this world, unlike you who is retired, we still have a long way to reaching your age."

"You don't have to be competitive like those kids, you can take this experience as going to a spa, or massage salon, and explore around cities that give you a feeling you traveled in time, to magnificent sceneries that you can't even grasp nowadays from all the pollution and climate changes."

Cristina turned her head at Mathias who shrugged, simply smiling a bit cheeky, and she entered first inside the capsule listening to an old Augustin voice that told her to breathe in a relaxed way, and listen to what the assisting AI had to say.

It didn't take long for her to follow Morpheus' steps, with the guys leaving her on her own, but while the old man was watching his only daughter get into the system, he frowned as if he forgot something.

"I forgot to tell her to join the Saharan Empire. What if she joins some pretentious kingdom that can't offer her many experiences."

Mathias still kept quiet, looking at his grandfather calmly, and so they wouldn't waste their time staring at a capsule, they went back to the living room, giving Cristina plenty of space, however, while inside the Satisfy, a mature woman with long black hair opened her green eyes where she was surrounded by a bunch of villagers that were working to clear out snow, while other people were repairing the damaged buildings.

However, once she appeared inside the middle of the village, where a large well was built, it triggered the entire villagers passing by to look at her, and immediately armed men started walking in her direction, scarring her.

"You woman, identify yourself. Who are you?" asked a middle-aged man with leather armor and a broadsword with short black hair that Cristina could see was named Baric, and she said to them in a nervous voice.

"I just arrived here, my name is Cristina."

.

.

.

"She is an Outlander. BOYS, CALL LADY FAYRENE SHE WILL KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH THIS UNEXPECTED GUEST."

One of the warriors surrounding Cristina, skeptical about her origin at Baric's orders dashed toward Elder Kylian house, where not long after, Cristina could see a young lady, with raven-black hair wearing an black dress that she could see had a white nameplate, telling her the name of this girl, Fayrene, while behind her was a brown haired woman wearing winter clothes but with the exception that her name was of a Silver color with golden fragments around.

'If what I am remember from reading on that article, it says that all of the people playing the game have white name. She should be someone like me.'

.

On another hand, before all the commotion happened inside the Amphail village, things looked stable inside the village with Fayrene remaining to support the village, trying to solve the mystery inside Silverpine Forest.

One week has already passed since she arrived inside Amphail Village and only yesterday she experienced another monster wave that she wiped out faster than the first one, with her reaching level 73, a level that was on par with the Top 10 High Rankers, but only if she shared this information, which was something upright rejected by her.

Things looked calm on the following day since the monster wave, with Baric and Halric organizing the villagers in an efficient way to reinforce the walls and repair the damage caused by the monsters that managed to escape her, Vek's and the warrior's eyes.

As for damages, only a couple of warriors got wounded, as they showed an visible growth since the last battle, and it was an opportune time to make use of the herbs the learned kobold acquired, crafting some ointments that could speed-up the recovery rate of their wounds.

Since then she was inside the Elder's house, reading some books from the collection of the ancient wizard's library that Mathias stumbled upon, cleaning it out of its contents, and handing her this precious gift, but from nowhere on what seemed to be a calm day, Fayrene heard some of the commotion going on inside the village, with the warriors acting up, and before she even went to check what was going on, one of the warriors, Draevyn appeared inside the living room.

"Lady Fayrene, we got a problem inside the village. A stranger appeared from nowhere, and the villagers suspect is the enemy who caused us so much suffering."

"Ohh really now? It is probably not. Anyway, let me see who this stranger is."

"Wait, Fayrene, I'll also come." mentioned Maryden, while Vek was sleeping beside the fireplace, seeming to be drained of his energy as a consequence of activating the Dragonborn Transformation.

Stepping out of the house and moving toward the center of the village at the well, from the surrounding warriors, she could see a lady in her 40s wearing clothes similar to what a beginner player would have, with silky black hair, and maintained appearance, while she was holding a staff in her hand. The more Fayrene observed this lady appearance, the more she found her familiar and as if lighting struck her, she immediately accessed her inventory and took out a drawn picture of a woman.

'Is this mom?'

'She looks like the woman Mathias drew for me when I asked him about his family. Her name is Cristina.'

'Wow, she is really beautiful for a lady her age. Ahhh, what should I do, I am starting to get nervous right now. How come my mother-in-law is here? What is going on the other side?'

"You can lower your weapons, she isn't a danger to the village. Baric is this how you will react to any visitator going forward after the monster problem is solved?"

"No, my lady, but we have to be vigilant this following days, since it is unknown when we will be attacked. Last night we might have it easy, but what about today, or tomorrow or the following days."

"Okay, okay, we will talk later, for now have your men go back to their post, the lady is clearly harmless."

Baric nodded his head, starting to build his trust in Fayrene and her decisions, since because of her they defeated the monster waves as if it was a child's play, nonetheless he still looked vigilantly at the lady who appeared from nowhere.

"Good afternoon, madame. I am sorry for the scary welcoming, but this place has its own circumstances for acting in this way."

Cristina could see the young lady in front of her far better after the warriors cleared out, and similarly to what Fayrene experienced, she too began looking as if she was observing her appearance, finding her familiar.

"Do you by chance know someone called Mathias?" asked Cristina, her first probing question, that would tell her if what she thought was correct.

"Yes madam. Once again, greetings and thank you for blessing me with the chance of meeting Mathias."

"So it was really you, the little darling that made my son happy. Ahem, still this is a bit of an unexpected and awkward meeting. I never expected we would meet in this way."

"I think the same, mother." replied Fayrene in a respectful way, smiling at her.

"Ahh, you really are cute." mentioned Cristina, who went to take her in a hug, kissing her cheeks.

Fayrene felt a weird sensation on her chest, a build up of emotions, not expecting meeting a member of Mathias family, especially his mother like this, and seeing how approachable and kind she was with her, it made her hug stronger. After the hug, she took out some clothes for the winter that weren't restricted by levels, which shocked Cristina who was using the system for the first time, accepting the items from Fayrene and with her guidance placing them on them in an instant.

"This is really convenient."

"Indeed, mother."

"Thank you cutie, have I disturbed you or anything?"

"Not at all I was recovering, reading a book since last night there was a battle here. Lots of monsters attacked the village, but things turned out okay for now."

"So this is why the people here are so nervous and tense. Poor people, what about your friends, can you introduce your friend to me?"

"No need, madame, it is a pleasure meeting you, I am Maryden, Minstrel of Tyar-Besil Village." bowed the minstrel at Cristina, who was wearing a comfortable and warm winter dress that fit perfectly to her body.

With Maryden approaching closer, Cristina nodded her head, and similarly to Fayrene gave her two kisses on her cheeks, smiling at her afterwards.

"A minstrel? Isn't it hard for you? I bet you have a lot of stories holding inside of you, would you mind telling some of them?"

"Hehe, my pleasure, madame. I can also sign for you, if this is what you wish."

"Maybe later. However, for now I got to talk with Fayrene."

***

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