Chapter 169 - Vol. 3 - Chapter 34

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A new day, a new chance to grind yourself inside the Satisfy and outside, and with old Augustine's gametime being consumed it was Mathias's turns to play using his old man's Capsule after having breakfast with him.

The old man along the way notices that Mathias started eating less than he usually did, when coming to him on his summer breaks, and wonders if he is alright, health-wise.

"Boy, is there something on your mind? You only eat some food, instead of a full portion."

"I know, but I can't do much about it. I am on diet ... if you could believe it, but I have to be careful with my calories. Besides, I have to drop to 70kg if I can reach it for my fighting endeavors."

Mathias tells him what his MMA coach plans for him, and starts mentioning how he would be required to drop to 70 kgs in order to see if he could possibly reach that weight limit.

"Sounds like a pain in the ass. But if you keep yourself focused and don't wander in the wrong places instead of training, you'll get there in no time. Especially because it is easy for youngsters to fluctuate their weight."

Augustine began laughing at the young man's misfortune, yet found a way to encourage him to keep his mind strong because weight cuts will test his will and mental game. If he can't drop to 70 kgs while he is still a youngster, then doing this when he is in his late 20s would be torturous.

After breakfast, the old and young went out of the house, to start cleaning around the snow which hit most of the Romanian territory along with Eastern Europe.

Cleaning the walking path, from his house to the gate, and later on at the old man's insistence, around his garden and small section of his property that he turned into an animal farm, where he was raising chicken, ostriches, and rabbits.

"Matei, help me clean the rabbit's den. After that, bring them food, I'll go check if the chickens gave some eggs."

"Sure, no problem, gramps. You left your tools in the same place?"

"Do you think I'll bother myself to change spots?"

"I just asked to make sure."

Doing as he was told, he entered the insulated room, where a lot of rabbits called this place home, being kept in spacious cages. Cleaning the enclosure and feeding them, it took him about 35 minutes to finish, and he didn't feel the passage of time at all, having his old man give him a look when he saw him play around with some rabbits.

'He didn't change whatsoever in that regard. A silly boy will remain a silly boy.'

Done with his play, he moved back inside the warmth of the house, where old Augustine got to the chimney and took some dried corn that he threw to the fire.

They still didn't bother themselves with Satisfy and instead spent their time together in an easy-going atmosphere, starting playing some chess while the TV was on the news going inside Romania.

Not focused that much on the news, as they were playing chess with unlimited time, but it acted as a subject of discussion, especially when it brought up the economic sides of the country which had old Augustine sigh, mentioning the incompetence of the politicians leading the country.

Various subjects were talked about while playing chess at an intermediate level, both trading wins whenever playing with the White Pieces, which made Augustine remark slightly annoyed.

"Maybe, just maybe ... I should waste some hours and focus on learning the black ones."

"Mhm, same. Knowing to play on black that you hardly lose, just signals you are even stronger with whites."

"Sure, but the playstyle for blacks is different. You make defensive moves to catch the white, and then start countering for the win. And, you brat, don't want to let me win."

"Sorry, but I am trying my best not to embarrass myself. Check." commented Mathias who gave a check to Augustine's King.

"... Tsk, I didn't see that move coming. No problem, I can recover."

Over the course of 12 moves since the initial check Mathias gave the old man, he wrapped the match with a check-mate after cornering the Black King with his Queen and Bishop.

"6-5" said Mathias who gathered the pieces, placing them in a reverse order, being required to play with the black pieces.

Soon, the old and young started again the match and after about 30 minutes, Mathias facepalmed himself when he got caught in a check, where he slowly lost more positions which ended in getting checkmated.

"6-6" remarked the old man, watching Mathias with a serious face, who had an advantage in starting first with the whites.

"Grandpa, we should take a break. We've been going at it, playing for 4 hours."

"Okay, but how do we decide who plays first Satisfy?" inquired old Augustine, clearly troubled about this situation they were in, where they played chess to decide whose first turn was to play Satisfy, which escalated to the stage they were playing for hours on end.

"Just go inside, I have to start my workout, which will take about 2 hours. Don't you have some kids to watch over? Act nice, and maybe, little Eirene will give you some rewards. Some interesting quests, which revolve around Herbalism."

"Tch, don't get me started. I got some Quests from that little girl, but it was mainly picking up plants for her, and helping her in concocting various medicine potions."

"You know, gramps. You can have a variety of paths inside Satisfy, this is why it's a game known for its freedom. For example, how I am right now, a Tailor. You can try becoming an Herbalist or Alchemist.

Aren't you interested in that type of stuff?"

"Alchemy? No way, I need magic to become such a thing. Both those kids who I watch over have talent in magic, while I have already taken the path of a Swordsman."

"Then, what about Herbalism? Doesn't it fit together with your gardening hobby?"

"Herbalism? I don't know what to say. Doing the same thing inside and outside, might be troublesome. However, I will give it a shot, if it doesn't hurt me ... why not?"

"Try it. It might help you with your garden here. Instead of wasting hours on researching various methods of growing plants and vegetables, and how to treat pests, simply learn this in Satisfy, since everything inside the Satisfy World has been influenced by our world.

Their techniques, from agriculture to technology are akin to a 15-17th century era."

"Yea, I will check it around."

"Glad to hear that."

Then, with old Augustine munching on some sweets along with drinking a lot of water to keep him going for the hours he would spend inside Satisfy, he left Mathias to clean the chessboard, to arrange the pieces back in the piece board box.

Mathias wasn't disturbed about not playing Satisfy, entering into a state of dependency, akin to an addict where he wouldn't feel alright if he didn't play some hours, instead he acted rather professionally during this whole ordeal.

Finishing with his cleaning, he prepared himself for his daily workout, and just like yesterday, after about 2 hours and 25 minutes, Mathias was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily while his muscles were all tensed up from his own specific crafted workout.

Moments when he was about to finish his workout, he started performing some of his strikes, starting with shadowboxing which showed his swift punches, and later on starting combining some of the Muay-Thai elements, mixing up High-Knees and Spinning-Elbows, and a range of Elbow Strikes, that he ended with a Back Spinning-High-Kick

*Whistle*

From his music, a whistle was heard, which had Mathias turn his attention to the sound, and it was old Augustine who looked at the drenched young man, as he was performing various moves he only saw in movies and in MMA fights.

"You've got out quite early. Something's wrong?" asked Mathias, who turned his music quieter.

"No, not really. I have to piss, so I took a small break. I never expected to see you so serious, diligently training those strikes of yours. But, what about wrestling and jiu-jitsu? How are you doing there?"

"Decent, but I got no one to drill those disciplines, so I only drilled my striking." replied Mathias who was breathing calmly, not rushing to recover his breath, as if it was another technique the professionals were doing to recover faster, instead of panting like a dog.

"Ohh, really? Want grandpa to help you with jiu-jitsu? I don't remember if I told you, but when I was in my 20 to late 30s, I used to practice jiu-jitsu to train myself since I got curious about this discipline from watching UF and it was one of the clubs closest to my home back then."

"Ehh, interesting. What belt?"

"Blue-belt, do you want to check it out?"

"Well, I am also a blue belt."

"Run from here, you a blue belt? How long have you been training?" asked the old man, as if not believing what Mathias was telling him.

"I started in August taking Jiu-Jitsu Classes, so this should be my forth month practicing. Why? My couch told me I was slow, he expected me to take my blue belt on my second month... Don't give me that look, I am serious. I can prove to you with photos and dates from my first exam."

"No, I believe you. I just can't believe you, it took me years to get my blue belt ... Come, roll with me, and let me see how good you are."

"Let's not. There's no need for you to risk tearing some muscle. At your age, you got to be careful. However, thanks for wanting to help me, but I am sure old Vinisan would torture me once I get back to Bucharest."

"Vinisan? A familiar name. Where have I heard this name?" asked old Augustine, stroking his white beard, starting to think about this name.

"The Middleweight UF Champion, Adrian Vinisan. Does it ring a bell?"

"Yeah, yeah, how could I not remember him? Still, it was 30 since his early retirement. How time passes. I remember he retired from the sport because of a series of health issues. How is he now?"

"No clue, but I'll be damned if I lied to you. Hee looks healthy.I even learned the reason he retired."

"What was it?"

"It was because of a rare condition to his bones, especially his hands. His joints started turning weaker, and then it all happened when he broke his hand. I think it's called Brittle Hands. "

"Right, it makes sense, that guy was ferocious in the cage. A one-punch knock-out artist with black-belt grappling class. The only guy to get the belt in our country.

Even now I remember, reading the news about how he got stripped of his belt and then getting released by the company after not competing for 2 years, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth." commented Augustine stroking his trimmed white beard, looking back at his past memories.

"Now, he owns an MMA Gym and trains a future champion." mentioned Mathias, boasting a bit about his possible future to give Augustine a reason to stick around for longer, watching his growth to achieve that level.

To which old Augustine slapped him over his head.

"Don't let it get to your head, brat. You have to remember that you aren't unique. You might have talent, but that talent is garbage if you aren't disciplined and listen to your coaches. There've been so many prospects inside MMA that I can remember from the top of my head, but most of them failed."

"Auch, of course, I know about this. I was just saying, to give you a reason to boast about to your old friends."

Not staying too long on Mathias's head, old Augustine went to drink another cup of water, and while exiting the kitchen munching on a Christmas Sweet returned back to his room, while Mathias went to the bathroom to clean his body.

Getting inside the capsule, a smile appeared on Augustine's face, remarking to himself.

"It doesn't matter if you fail it, child. As long as you've learned something from this experience. People grow, especially when they are young. A little failure each and there will make you prepared to take after me."

With old Augustine returning to Grenhaler and continuing his job as the Duke's House butler, Mathias who got out from his cold shower went to the kitchen and heated up some of the cooked food his grandfather had in the fridge, a spicy vegetable stew.

His day continued in a chill manner, that he even took a nap in the living room, as he was listening to some Documentary talking about various animals, and the TV being one of the Smart versions, closed, leaving Mathias to nap undisturbed.

By the time he woke up, he saw that the living room was dark, but still warm as if someone continued placing wood on the fire and in old Augustine's heating system getting to use the corn.

"What time is it?"

Fishing out for his phone, he saw it blinking with the notifications, and while opening it, he saw the clock showing [8:32] PM, which shocked him that he napped for about 3 hours.

Getting up, he went to the bathroom to wash his face in some cold water, and later to the kitchen to hydrate himself since he felt like a dry fish, that required a lot of water.

'I did sweat a lot again. Got to change my clothes.' thought Mathias who felt that his clothes were wet.

Changing his clothes, he started checking the notifications from his phone, most of them being the Guild Messages, but there were also some from his Light Novel where he arranged in such a way that chapters would be posted daily on a specific time so he wouldn't worry about not giving his readers content to read.

Various comments and reviews picked Mathias's attention, as he began reading the comments of his readers, which started a discussion about the future plots of the story which to Mathias who wrote about 60% of the story, made it even funnier as he knew exactly how the story would go until the end.

'Heh, they still think that I would have Justinian conquer Magna-Dacia after finishing the Sassanids Arc. Too bad for you guys, we are going straight for the germans. Strike at the Hot Iron while it is still hot and shape it the way we like. I will go for the Franks and we'll see how I stomp their necks in the dirt they made out of Gallia.

Not responding to his comments, a thing he saw being rather good as it made his readers more into a community instead of him being required to feed them with obvious answers they could gain from his story, with many future arcs already being foreshadowed in various parts of the story.

The reviews he received, he saw being all positive, mentioning their experience reading his story, and adding on how the story keeps on getting better with time, and also how the author gave the respective guy to immerse in his story, and funnily enough, he remarked loving the part one of the secondary characters, acting as an officer in the Imperial Legion and how the side of the commoners was fleshed out.

Some even mentioned that they initially had no idea about the history of Justinian, but the way he interpreted these bits of history and gave them a new life, made it look as if it was a memoir of the Emperor with the details being told as it happened in history.

'Glad to hear that people love my story and that it is still popular on the platform, ranked in the top 40 novels of the platform, thanks to those two guys, SaberFate and Sculp who created a fandom for the story.'

Like a ghost, he gave the guys who reviewed a like as proof of his approval, before moving on with his nightly activities, with old Augustine still on the capsule, he received a message from old Vinisan, with a simple remark.

#Couch Vinisan: Kiddo, I hope you didn't forget to train yourself. Don't exaggerate with the Christmas food, you'll mess up the weight cut that you'll, later on, curse me for being a demon. Also, I've settled down for your first amateur kickboxing match.

It will be on 12 January at Welterweight since I don't want to kill you down with a heavy weight cut, we'll just have to drop to 77 kgs and we'll see from there on how you handle the pressure in the ring. But I don't worry about you, as you are always doing your homework.

#Mathias: Yes, couch, I didn't slack from my training since I got home. Don't worry, also Happy New Year for when it happens in three days."

#Couch Vinisan: Same, kiddo, same. I heard the Mayor is doing some fancy celebrations for 2070. It's a good time to take that girlfriend of yours and relax since you'll return to Bucharest on that day.

#Mathias: I don't have a girlfriend, an old man. Where have you got this idea?"

#Couch Vinisan: Ohh, really? Then take that black-haired beauty that you brought to the gym, I doubt she will reject you. Make all you can do of the available chances you've got, but don't make it distract your mind from training.

#Mathias: Then you shouldn't have mentioned that thing, senile old man.

#Couch Vinisan: Who are you calling senile, you little prick? I will see you taught a good lesson since you've got gutsy after getting to your mommy.

#Mathias: Old man, go take your pills and sleep. It's 11:05 PM. People your age should keep to their beauty sleep.

#Couch Vinisan: Right, good that you reminded me. I have to take my pills. We'll talk more when you return home.

A conversation that made Mathias chuckle, finding his old couch rather amusing at times, as he had a unique way with words, and then in another couple of minutes, old Augustine also made his way out from the Capsule, saying to him, reminiscent to how he also did yesterday.

"I took more time than I expected."

"No problem. That's your capsule, not mine. I have fully prepared to lag behind, using this chance to visit you guys, since it is not like I will come back that often."

"You know what Matei, tomorrow I also will not spend any time playing Satisfy, since I will rarely get to see you. A game, you can play it whenever, but spending time with your grandson is rare."

"Ohh really? Then you should prepare yourself."

"Prepare myself for what?"

"We'll go tomorrow to the city, and spend one day there with the whole family. I don't care what problems you have with dad, but do this for mom. You also have to spend time with Alex and Chris."

"I wanted to go to them on the first day of the new year. Hey, don't make me seem like a terrible grandfather. I will tell you something but it will remain between the two of us. I spoiled you."

"You spoiled me?"

"Yes, because Cristina and George were always strict on you, as the eldest son, especially after the other two came into the family. Obviously, I along with your grandmother were the ones to watch over you, and we spoiled you since your parents wouldn't give you this freedom."

*Chuckle* "Maybe. A little bit." responded Mathias, laughing a bit where old Augustine also started telling stories about how he spoiled Mathias when he was a little boy.

The night ended with both old and young going to sleep, Mathias delaying a bit since he was watching some historical content he bookmarked for later parts of his story, going to sleep at about 2 AM.

***

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