Rhax could feel every individual sweat drop sliding across his naked torso, he discarded his shirt a little while after he started working on the bayonet. The heat of the furnace and the physical labor itself made for the most perfect workout ever. He could feel his body sweating from the amount of work he did, it was refreshing, he felt accomplished like it was a gym session.

‘I guess it is expected of Peter to be this jacked, if he works like this every day then I would be surprised if he is not jacked.’ Rhax thought while drinking water, the tasteless liquid slides down his dry throat and moisturized it like rain in the desert.

He wiped his mouth after finishing the glass of water, his gaze then unknowingly drifted to the piece of steel that he made. The bayonet’s blade. It was beautiful, his hands had never made something this beautiful in his 30 years of life.

Unconditionally a smile was on his face, he really enjoyed making the bayonet, it wasn’t hard per say but it was challenging. But in a good way, not in a bad way like most things are.

His gaze then drifted to the window and to his shock he saw that the blue sky was replaced with dark sky. ‘Just how long have I been here?’

He turned to Peter who was drawing something on a piece of paper. “Oi, Peter!” He said in a loud voice to be heard over the sound of the furnace. It seemed that it got Peter’s attention as he looked from the paper at him. “It is night outside; shouldn’t we go back?” Rhax asked with a puzzled expression.

Peter looked at the sky and then sighed. “It seems that I was invested in my work and forgot time, again!” If anyone says this sentence then Rhax would pity them and think that they are sad, but the big smile on Peter’s face made him think that Peter can’t take anything seriously.

“Let’s go, Julia probably has made dinner and I would like to spend some time with my kids.” Peter said while taking off the apron he was wearing.

Rhax was putting on his shirt when he heard Peter let out a gasp, he turned immediately, hand grasping the dull bayonet he made in self-defense. Picture of the Direwolf flashed before his eyes and he felt his legs tremble, he stilled himself by force and looked again around the store and then at Peter. Peter was watching him with wide eyes and there was concern in his eyes. Rhax knew that his expression was one of absolute fear and his muscles were visibly tense.

“I’m sorry to startle you, I shouldn’t have done that.” Peter lowered his head in apology. He looked really sorry which made Rhax feel a little better.

“No, it is okay, it is just that I remembered the Direwolf and all the bad memories it brought with it.” Rhax tried to consul Peter, he still held the knife in his right hand, he felt the hard and blunt metal pressing against his skin, threatening to break his skin forcefully if he applied more pressure.

“So, what was it that made you gasp?” Peter looked relieved at Rhax’s question to change the conversation.

“Did you work half naked?” Peter asked with a look of fear in his eyes.

“Yeah, something wrong with it?”

Peter’s jaw was on the floor. “Wrong with it? Are you fucking insane?! You are working with metal and fire that is literally thousands of degrees high, and you are wearing nothing, not even an apron to prevent the serious burns. And you are asking me if there is something wrong?!” Peter’s face was red with anger and concern, he was shouting like a crazy person.

Rhax tried to calm him. “Brother, chill out, I’m okay, no burns I swear.”

Peter looked him over and then visibly relaxed. “Why weren’t you wearing an apron?” He asked in that stern tone of his.

Rhax didn’t know how to say this without sounding rude, so he just said and prayed for the best. “Well, you didn’t give me one….”

Peter stood there for a couple of seconds and then the realization hit him, his face turned so pale he looked like a ghost. “I’m the worst mentor ever! I forgot about the most important thing to a blacksmith, I’m a disgrace. You could’ve been badly burnt.” Peter was on all fours for some reason, it reminded Rhax of that old cartoonish trope where when a person feels down there go on all fours and contemplate.

But right now, he didn’t have time for this so he dragged Peter and started going toward the house, because a system message just appeared.

[Notice! Player’s recommended playing time is over in five minutes. It is recommended that the Player log out and do not stay after the recommended time for health reasons.]

“Come on, Peter. You are not a terrible mentor nor a disgrace, but a human and humans forget, so you fucked up today, learn from it and never fuck up in the same way again. Got it?” Peter, who was being dragged, seemed to take these words to heart as the flame in his eyes reignited.

He slipped from Rhax’s grip and started walking again, the hunch in his back disappeared and the proud blacksmith was back again.

It took them only a couple of minutes to go back to the house, Rhax could feel his stomach rumbling and the smell that was inside the house didn’t help with the rumbling. But he only had like 2 minutes till he was supposed to log off. So, he made an excuse of being too tired and went to his room, the moment he was there he made sure the room was locked, he laid on the bed and simply thought of [Log off] then like a tornado he felt his mind slip from his virtual body and then float in the white area which was the area between Ethea and the real world. The mind usually stays here for a couple of seconds before going to the destination it was supposed to go to.

He felt his body a couple of seconds later, his body was comfortable and he felt like he just got a full night's sleep. Which was true in a way, technically he is sleeping when he is in Ethea because only his mind is in the game, and his body is resting.

If this was any other game then it would have been impossible to be refreshed after playing it because the brain is always working and not taking a time off. But this was Ethea, and the Outlaws had created something unheard of, they tricked the brain into thinking it is working in Ethea, but in actuality it is resting and working at the same time. How? No one knows, it is one of the many secrets around this group of people.

So, Marcus was feeling both mentally and physically refreshed, even though his mind can’t compare to his body as the blacksmithing really did a toll on him. Also, the recurring PTSD episodes he started having has taken a toll on his mind.

He picked up his phone from its place of resting in the capsule and checked the time, his lecture starts at 9 O’clock. He read on his phone that it was 7 in the morning, he sighed, two hours was too much time but he could eat and shower without rushing.

So, he took a shower and cooked a couple of eggs with cheese and made some tea. It always made everyone look at him weirdly when he mentioned that he likes tea more than coffee. Coffee is bitter and the energy it gives is honestly more harmful than helpful.

After he was done with his breakfast, he saw that it was 7:45, he still had 75 minutes until his lecture started.

‘Right, I should check out the memory feature in the capsule.’ He decided after washing the dishes.

He walked to his capsule, took a picture of the serial number and then went to the computer. He did as Devan told him and he found it! It was a 30-minute video.

“That sounds about right, I don’t remember being awake more than half an hour.” He murmured to himself.

He watched the video and he really liked it, it was like a damn movie or a good ass game cutscene. But the gore and the screaming made it look like a horror genre prodigy.

He thought about it and about what it would bring him, and he decided to do it. He will finally man up and do something that is impactful in his life.

So, he went to Yowitch, it is a website that takes the best features of both Twitch and YouTube without any of the cons. Of course, it came out after the collapse of these two giants in the late twenties.

He went to the create an account tab and created an account with the name Rhax, he put in his credit card info and then clicked create account.

He then took the video and edited it a little, he doesn’t want the people to see him threaten a child also, the first thing Olivia called him is molester, and he would be damned if he would let that go out to the internet.

He took out all of the stuff that could get him in trouble and then posted it on his channel with the title: [Worst start of Ethea ever! Fighting a Direwolf from the beginning!]

It was true and clickbait worthy, even though technically it is not a clickbait as he really did fight a Direwolf.

He then put down his social media in the description and uploaded it. He has two social media accounts in every app, one in Marcus’ name and the other in Rhax’s. It is more convenient.

After he was done, he looked at the clock and saw that it was 8:15, so he stood up, went into this room and changed into a button-down white shirt and a black jean. He put his watch on his left wrist and made his hair.

He picked his bag on the way out, he closed the door behind him and started walking to his lecture. But for some reason he felt like something will go horribly wrong today, he tried to ignore the feeling but it was unmoving, so he decided to ignore it, at least for now.