Chapter 155 - Vol. 3 - Chapter 20

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"She is taking long, it has already been 40 minutes." mentioned old Augustin from his couch as he stared at the clock, which made him worried about his progress.

"What are you worrying about, old man? It seems you can't wait to hop inside the capsule. Take it easy, wasn't your idea of allowing mom to explore around Satisfy?"

"Ahem, I left things unfinished in the city. I am sure I will be nagged by the little Princess."

"Right, we haven't talked about it, but you mentioned something about Grenhaler, what are you doing there?"

"I am a butler." replied the old man with a casual tone that made all the boys in the living room stare weirdly at him except for Mathias who was nodding in understanding.

"Can you give me more details?"

"If you laugh I promise …"

"I will not."

"Fine, I am one of the servants of Grenhal House. Happy? Grampa will become an important courtier soon, and rise to the rank of advisor, and who knows what the future will hold for me. I might get bigger inside the Duchy since it seems the Duke sees me favorably."

"Hoh, you already met the Duke? Still, how come you managed to get yourself in that position."

"By acting up as a pathetic old man. You know how ... no need to develop the point." responded old Augustin in a calm way as if he felt nothing wrong in his act, yet this notion impressed Mathias.

"Good one, old man. Maybe you might pull some strings for me there."

"Hoh, how come?"

"I am currently inside Titan, building a Clothing Workshop, and in some more weeks the construction should be over and I will start the operations."

"You did such a thing?? But how, you need a large amount of money for it. Kid, tell me what you are hiding from me." inquired the old man, who from what Mathias could see was versed in the Satisfy World.

Not minding telling his grandfather the story of his progress in Satisfy, he began telling him in a brief manner how he started similar to him the Grenhal Duchy but finding himself in a small village close to Gravelmark, the Cidarian Village.

Then moved along not wishing to bore him, getting to Gravelmark and all the high-level monsters he was pry to see, which awed old Augustin when hearing about the Gryphon and Roc, something that could be said to be similar in Chris and Alex's case when hearing for the first time this story as if he was holding it back from telling it.

George didn't escape as he too got captured by the story of his son, which painted in his mind the picture of a world as real as the one he was living, with people having their own unique customs similar to theirs, but what was the most marking was the mysterious monsters he only heard in fantasy books.

After passing by one of the many passages of Gravelmark Mountain, he moved the story toward Iljnoks and the Kobolds, summarizing his fights and deeds, not making them seem big, he then got to explaining old Augustin how he got his money, the gemstones that he sold in Titan.

"Wait, wait, you are the one leading those annoying brats of Leviathan?"

"Gramps, do you even know about the guilds?"

"How could I not know? You have four of those brats in my city making commotions, fighting against other brats. Don't act as if you don't know. That brat Orpheus, Monkey Wine, PageUp, and Astromania are annoying always causing a commotion inside the city requiring the Duke to oversee things closer."

"They are just having fun, they didn't damage anything. Probably the people of Grenhaler are having a blast watching those guys fighting."

"Until it gets chaotic. Still, you guys are lucky, Duke Grenhal allows such fights, but only if they are overseen by a City Guard. Tsk, I feel you are just mocking me now in your head for the things you already know. Damn, to think the little baby I grew up with would be the mysterious leader of the Leviathan. How is it, are you bigger in level than that Kraugel kid?"

When hearing the old man asks him that, from nowhere a smile was stirred on his face, responding to the expecting elder with something he didn't expect to hear.

"I am only level 32."

"Boy, are you playing with me? How can you be level 32 when everyone in your guild is level 60 and above?"

"Simple, I didn't stress myself and did what I enjoyed doing."

Old Augustin remained silent, but his expression told many things, looking at Mathias understanding what he remarked, and since then he no longer bothered to bicker about Mathias being lazy.

He too sometimes would fall into this trap of not wanting to advance, instead focusing on exploring the city and having long conversations with the people he got acquainted with, most of them inhabitants of the Satisfy world.

Yet the only person that managed to leave a great impression since playing, was Duke Grenhal that was a sensible man, versed in many arts, from warfare to the arts, and even had a passion for gardening, something that he had a lot to share with the Duke, from how to sprout faster various plants, to the periodic time one would have to spend nurturing them.

Such things were the first things he shared with the boys, about his daily activities at the Duke's Court, and how he was entrusted with the Chateau gardens, in a sense being a butler with multiple tasks.

"So far I am having a blast, but the winter came strong. It even shocked me how harsh it could get in that world.

Maybe the ones who built the world had in mind to emulate the weather conditions of the middle-aged era, where the world was slightly colder, giving this chance for the winter to really hit hard. Still, is just one of my thoughts, and with this, I told you about my activities."

"I am not bad for an old man, right? Level 45, a swordsman, and having a stable location to call home."

"Indeed, you aren't doing bad at all, but compared to me, who met the Emperor, and where we are on close terms, you are still behind me when it comes to games, regardless of what type.

What's more, I managed to make the Emperor want to meet me by his own volition, instead of acting like a beggar." remarked Mathias sarcastically, throwing some jabs at the shameless manner old Augustin approached the Duke House.

"You used your novel to bait him, right? I can't see another way for you to manage to have such a positive reaction from the big boss of that world. Ahem, I also saw that you improved some of your plotlines, the war was greatly conveyed, as was the aftermath of the war.

But for the love of God, increase your releasing speed. You'll finish that story of yours when you'll become an old man in this manner."

"Wait, Gramps, are you reading my story? Tsk, this is awkward right now."

"Yea, I peeked at the drafts you were writing, is not that complicated to find what you write according to Chapter titles. Kid, you think I lived in the era of your grand-grandparents where they didn't have access to computers and the internet, only having such benefits in their 40-50s, as for me, heh."

"You are worse than my generation. I bet on this."

"Kiddo, I can't say for certain whose generation was worse or better, but mine was quite complicated. I almost lived to see the Earth getting annihilated by the third great war, so yeah, you little ones have it nice since the technology of nuclear defense improved at a maddening rate.

Nowadays people can't even launch those rockets, because it would simply backfire on them, without even being required for a general assembly of forces."

"Father, you are getting political again, I doubt the boys like to hear about politics."

"No, that boy is far shrewder than you think George, he understands a lot of things that most kids his age still struggle to comprehend. Go on, tell him little Matei."

"Ahem, does it even matter? Those eras of the past have been gone, we now live in other circumstances, with a new global system that has been slightly altered to fit the new technological innovations. Tyrants still exist in this age, as they have existed since immemorial."

They remained on talking about this subject, with both older parties giving their opinion if things would change for the better or stagnate again.

"It can't stagnate, child. On the Kardashev Scale taking into consideration all the progress did so far we are close to reaching type 1, we are at 0.95." told the old man with deep conviction about his statement, while Mathias laid his back on the couch, and replied to this idea.

"We are still one step away, and it is unknown when this will happen, but it will probably be exciting to see that step in the following years."

"Hah, let's hope I get to see it."

"Why stress about it old man, you are in tremendous shape for an old man who is only 69 years old, with the technology in this age, you'll live to see the successful colonization of Mars."

Before Augustin had the chance to reply, from inside the living room a voice came, which made them quiet with her rhetorical question.

"What are you boys doing? Are you once again arguing about insignificant things that might never happen because of how greedy all sides are?"

"Cristina, you are finally done with the capsule. How was it? Did you have fun?"

"This experience is one that will stick for years to come. Who would have thought that technology would advance so much? It feels as if those people created a world like how God created our own."

"Ahhh, don't get me started, do you wish I nag you for hours about why there's no such thing?"

Still in the end it was Mathias who shut the old man's attempts at arguing without breaking, with a simple yet deep question that revolved on the creation of the universe.

"Grampa, I know you are not a religious person, for fair points, but don't forget, no person has an answer to the simple question of "How it all started.", we can't even phantom what exists beyond our knowledge."

"... Fine, but you still agree with me on that part."

"Ohh, about the uselessness of sects as they are structured. For sure. They, 100% are just creations of the people to adapt to their newer life conditions, from the Pagans to Christianity each of the religions evolved to fit the narrative, even right now you can see this change right on the people's faces."

Cristina coughed hard, making both young and old shut up from their unnecessary talk where she told Chris and Alex who asked excitedly about her experience, where she began feeding their imagination about the environment, sceneries and people, the things that would mark you for good.

And while she informed them about what she did, old Augustin took Mathias back to his bedroom and looking at him, he asked him with a serious voice.

"Why don't you level up your character?"

"I don't feel like it."

"Tsk, stubborn kid, those guildmates of yours will for sure abandon you if you don't keep up with them. In a sense why should they lower their heads to a guy lower in level? It doesn't make sense, you have to view the Satisfy world in both ways, like a real world where you can indeed take your time to relax but also a game that needs to be cleared."

"Don't you want to clear the game?"

"Not in particular. If I clear the game I might not enjoy my relaxing time."

"That's one of the aspects, but then again, view it like the rest of games out there that gives you the chance of continuing playing the game when the main questline is over.

Like those Hero Fantasy games, once the Devil is destroyed you'll be able to retreat to your farm and do your thing."

"That's what you think old man. But, do you have a main quest line inside Satisfy? As you said, this isn't a normal game, but a real world with a game element."

"Ohh, but I know. How couldn't I know it? The antagonist of the world is the Yatan Church. We just have to defeat them and the game will be cleared."

Hearing this from old Augustine, Mathias started laughing, making the old man, frown, and look at him with a questioning look.

"Hah, that world is not so simple, grandpa. Let me give you some more details on what I view the main storyline being for Satisfy."

With a deep breath, while the old man was seated on his comfortable chair and he was on the bed, he started telling Augustine about his secondary path, the Arcane Path, moving later telling him about the Arcane Tome and the information it contained, which the more he was opening about, the change in the old man's expression was visible, until Mathias ended his story after 25 minutes.

"Now you also understand why I am not trying to hurry myself and that most of those kids are dumbasses for pushing levels without even knowing who the enemy is?"

"Fuck, how couldn't I think about it? The Gods of that world are the true enemy we will face? Ulala, aren't we fucked little Matei?"

"Won't we have to level up?" replied Mathias to old Augustin with a mocking smile.

"Don't you dare make fun of your old man."

"Okay, but in general that's the challenge we will face in the future. Or so I think it will be.

It will still take a long time before any of the top guys reach the point the Gods will take notice of them, but from my experience with Rebecca in the Beta Phase, she is the type of woman to be interested in us, and even offer certain blessings just to see how we react to her "favours".

She is like an alien performing experiments on us, monkeys, collecting data about us, while we are clueless about everything going up there. You know what annoys me the most, grampa?"

"Being played like a pawn. Just like myself. From where could you get that type of personality if not from your mother's side? Meaning, great me."

"Right, stop your narcism, old man. But, back to the story. With regard to those gods, and especially Rebecca, Haycien told me about the risks of this trade of receiving her blessings. And it's as ruthless as you can imagine, she can take away all her invested money without suffering a lot of consequences."

"That bitch, doesn't this sound like the Government? ... Good to know. I didn't even look at her statue when I passed by the Church inside Grenhaler. All my life I didn't believe in a God, I will not change my mind at my old age anytime soon."

"... *Cough* At times, it is better to believe that someone, somewhere deep in the universe exists, who created the universe. God's big boss if you may call it as such."

"Yea sure, even though the story you convinced yourself sounds decent, is still crap not confirmed by anyone."

"Hah, let's beat on a table so no one takes us seriously. You might not care, but I want to be soothed by beautiful angels."

"As if. Are you now judging the succubus beauties? Shame, I'd rather go to bed with them than some arrogant angel bitch."

Mathias stared at old Augustine with a conflicted expression, but nonetheless, he continued talking with him about other things while his family seemingly prepared themselves to depart already spending enough time in checking on the old man, moving along with their other plans, and when it was about to check on the two, Augustine told the parents.

"We'll talk on the phone on the News Eves. Little Matei will remain with me for two more days since I've missed him more than you guys."

"Father, Matei is already a big boy."

"It is fine, mother, I want to spend some more time with grandpa since I will leave on the 30th. Dad, you'll have to drive the car back, my bad."

"Sure son, but with what car will you come back?" asked George, while before Mathias could respond, the old man interjected first, and with a calm, arrogant voice he mentioned.

"I'll give him my Mustang. I intended to give him for his 20th birthday, but that year was bad for him I guess. Now is the perfect chance."

"Wait what?? Will your heart allow you to separate from it, gramps?" asked Mathias, surprised by this gift, and afterward felt a palm on his back that was like an encouraging hit.

"At my age, I can't go fast anymore. My reactions got slower, and driving that old beast will get me in trouble."

Cristina smiled at both Mathias and Augustine and she only told Mathias to be careful on his way, while George did the same, with only the smaller ones telling Mathias that they want to taste the speed.

"We'll find time for that in the future. Let winter melt. That's not even a problem, it's only a matter of when." replied Mathias who bid his farewell to the family, walking along with Augustin to see them on their way on the road.

"Two days, don't you think they are plenty of time spent with grandpa before going to Bucharest? You'll stay from 27 to 29 with me, you'll spend some time with your parents on 30, and on the same day or following day depart to your home.

Hmm, yeah, a sound plan."

"I don't mind, grandpa. So let me show you some of my skills inside Satisfy with the sword, and who knows you might actually learn them like I did."

"Hopefully. That was my plan anyway for keeping you with me, hehe. Let's start recording them, using the new trick those streamers cooked by linking the desktop view to the capsule system."

"You are talking about strange things to me, old man."

"... You don't even know this much? Aren't you the leader of Leviathan? How could you call yourself that, if you don't even know this much?"

"I didn't have a use for it."

"Fine, whatever. It is not a big deal. Just hoop inside the capsule and listen to me inside the game. I will help you set up the configuration."

"Sure. Hopefully, you'll understand my tricks. Besides, can I play for more? I plan to start my leveling up strategy."

"... How much?"

"4-6 hours? Maybe more?"

"Fine, for my dear grandson, I will sacrifice some of my time inside Satisfy. Pray that Duke Grenhal doesn't fire me, or I will strip you butt naked on the Forum inside Titan and embarrass you."

"Mhm, big words. I hope you don't faint when you see my stats."

"Bah, you wish. Go on, let's see what you can do boy."

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