Chapter 177 - Vol. 3 - Chapter 42

***

A young woman who had a long sleep had a weird dream that was awakened by her sniffing around the smell of cooked food, and with herself opening her eyes in a lazy manner she got scared a bit.

While stretching her arms and legs, she turned her face toward the window and noticed that a man has seated on a chair close to the radiator warming himself while on his body was a slim blanket that covered him, having his eyes closed as if he was napping.

Leonor was confused as to why Mathias looked rather sweet in his sleep, standing the way he was doing.

She didn't remember anything, but as she tried to get up without disturbing the sleeping man who in her mind was sleeping in an uncomfortable position, she noticed that her clothes were for a party.

'He brought me home? And even placed me in bed. Wait, this smell, puke?'

Besides her, close to the bed was a basin that had some small amounts of puke on it, and she finally understood in her head what happened. She drank in the News Year Celebration and embarrassed herself in front of Mathias.

'Nooo, I showed him that side of me… I hope I didn't tell him anything which would make things awkward between us.'

Mathias, who was resting his eyes, opened them to greet Leonor who glanced at him in an awkward manner, and she started explaining herself to him.

"I am sorry for taking your time and ruining your New Year's Eve."

"Relax, you didn't ruin anything for me. Don't make what happened last night bigger than it was."

Only to be pacified in a tranquil way, as what she did wasn't that big of a deal. She hears him mention to her to eat the food he cooked for her while it was still fresh.

Getting up, Mathias walks to pick up the basin for laundry to spill it on her toilet, while he asks her if she was alright and if she didn't feel any pain in her body.

Meanwhile, Leonor didn't feel that bad, but once she breathed out she smelled that her breath was full of alcohol, which made her cheeks turn rosy, starting to blame herself in her mind for not acting like a proper woman.

'I am really a failure as a woman. To drink so much that my breath still smells of alcohol.'

Yet, Mathias who returns back with a cup of mint tea, just tells her to take it easy, and while he watches her eat at a small table where a laptop was placed, he started asking her if she was alright in general.

Leonor doesn't understand what Mathias wanted to ask, and the young man reformulates what he wanted to ask, and he goes on to mention the state of her apartment and how it was messy.

Knowing that it would make the young woman uncomfortable, he still addresses those problems he saw, and like an elder brother, even though he was younger than her, he keeps bothering her with worried questions.

Meanwhile, Leonor, who was eating freshly cooked Risotto, because of her embarrassment didn't want to talk back. Which made Mathias tell her about the fact he cleaned her kitchen and living room, and place in order her messy clothes, while the ones that were dirty he placed them to be washed.

"I had nothing better to do last night while you were sleeping, so I went about and made a bit of disturbance for your neighbors. Heh, I doubt they would notice, from how noisy they were. I am even shocked you could sleep so peacefully in that noise."

Hearing Mathias's remark, besides the initial blush she gained, she quickly bounced back, telling him with some awkwardness.

"You really didn't have to clean around. I would have cleaned the house eventually."

"... Eventually … Maybe later ... Sure for later it will be done ... Those are constant words coming from our mouths to post-pone things." commented Mathias, walking toward her in a nonchalant manner, and placing his large hand on her forehead, resulting in her getting slightly rosy.

"Seems fine. The clothes made you sweat, but I couldn't just change your clothes. I am not that type of jackass to profit over your weakness."

"... I will take a shower."

"Take your time and finish the Risotto while it is warm. Want me to tell you my adventures inside a ladies' home?" asked Mathias in a calm manner, to make Leonor relax by bringing some amusement into the mix.

"Don't I am sure you don't like how my house looks."

Clicking his tongue while doing a "No", he gave her a cheeky smile and began telling his adventures in her apartment.

It all began when they returned from the festival, and after making sure she was alright for the most part. Then he started by cleaning the living room.

When he started doing that, everyone was celebrating, with the noise surrounding him, it was 2 AM at that time and he was cleaning around, gladly no one was bothered by him since everyone was partying at that time, or watching various TV programs that broadcasted various shows to make the passage of time easier.

"I know it's messy. But I simply don't have time to clean around."

She bits her lip while telling Mathias her problem, a habit of always postponing until the last day.

Mathias tells her what would happen to her, and his words strike the truth to the young lady.

"And whenever you would say "I will do it tomorrow." it will be "No, I will do the next following day." and like this you will continue postponing it, not feeling stressed about those normal things.

This is a bad habit, Leonor, even though you are working hard at the Hotel, you don't have to forget about those things, of taking care of your environment and your body."

She could only agree, and as he also goes to grab a plate with Risotto that he was eating using the small table, standing close to the young woman, almost too close, he didn't seem to be interested in some "romantic" moves as Leonor thought in her mind when he first moved to sit next to her.

"When you go to the living room, what you'll see, I want you to make this a habit of seeing on a daily basis. What you will see in the kitchen, similarly to the living room, is to keep it clean. You'll notice sooner or later the benefits of having those things placed in order."

Then when they finished eating, they went together passing by the living room, which had Leonor stopped for some long minutes to watch with shocked eyes at how clean her room was currently. She couldn't see a single piece of her clothes, which made her "Che" find it a waste of time not finding them at hand length.

This made Mathias to cough, which had Leonor nod her head as if agreeing to what Mathias mentioned not too long ago, and once she got to the kitchen similarly to the living room, it was in an orderly manner.

There were no more dirty dishes, or messily arranged plates on the table for no reason, but to be "time efficient".

"What you were doing isn't time efficient at all."

"No? But my clothes were in handy to be picked."

"Hah, Leo, is this how your parents taught you?"

"..."

When he asked that question, Leonor's state shifted and Mathias could notice that which made him question himself and his word choice, before saying "Sorry, those words were unnecessary."

"No, you don't have to be sorry. You are right, I should strive to be cleaner with my space. But, I just got used to doing those things fast, so I could move on to my next activity."

"Leo, you know that if you want you can talk with me about various things, you can always call me. For you, I will always be available."

This is where he spends some more time with Leonor talking while seated on a couch similar to his own as if she was under the same landlord, and out of curiosity he asks her about this, and in a funny way, she responds that she was living under the same landlord with Mathias.

Who starts joking about how lazy the landlord is on changing some things in his apartments, nevertheless, they can only joke about those parts since they couldn't judge the "business" aspect of the Real Estate investments of the owner of those apartment houses.

Which made Leonor mention how certain people profited immensely from the downfall of the real estate in Romania about 22 years ago, and now with the prices being sky-high for even a small apartment which would make any economist and accountant like Leonor to attempt to hit her delicate forehead on the brick walls.

Mathias just tells to be patient and to gather money, since he read some articles about this subject, and also received some points from his grandfather who told him that the World's Economy would suffer a big change in the following years, and he knows why this happens.

Leonor is confused, as she doesn't understand what Mathias speaks about, and this makes the young man who had his long hair cascade down over his shoulders and back to mention in a serious voice.

"It's rather simple, the game Satisfy is exactly that Trojan Horse of this current Economy. All sorts of people would want to get a part of this world, criminals, wealthy people, normal people, it will get messy with time as you'll even see Governments pull strings for their own benefits."

"I don't know, while it sounds to have some logic, it still hard to believe that Governments would ever bother with a game."

"That's because Satisfy isn't a simple game."

"But how do you know this?"

"Story short, it's one of my hobbies to study about the Economics of the world, and the ups and downs in society … and predict things."

Mathias continues telling the young woman, about his hobby, about how since he got fired from his Hotel Job, he had more time to research on this aspect, and even though it was a small group of people that were doing speculations, he joined this small group and was on current with most intriguing news spread on the economy of Satisfy and how it would blend together with the real world's Global Economy.

She listens to him, and is shocked at how detailed and correct Mathias was with regard to some economic information, not expecting him to be interested in this, and throwing some of her ideas after she listened to some details from Mathias, it got them worked out about a thing, making money from smart investments inside Satisfy that could be correlated to Real Money.

"That's right, you probably are among the first people to ever create an enterprise inside Satisfy."

Leonor congratulates Mathias for probably being the first Player to take advantage of this economic aspect of Satisfy and make his endeavor inside the game, where he could even gain a large advantage over the rest of the players who might think the same as him and do the same type of investments.

"At the expense of losing some levels and getting ridiculed by many. It's not my first time getting ridiculed, so I will cope with it. Still, thanks for the words."

"Still, Matei, you need someone to help you out with the Mediatisation and Publicity of your Workshop. If you want, I can give you a hand, since it wouldn't hurt my hand."

"If you want to help, I don't mind, but it will be quite engaging for you, you might have to make trips to Titan and collaborate with my Administrator."

"Well, I think I am more inclined on that side of the business, because of what I studied at University."

"Hmm? What degree do you have?"

"Marketing and Economic Studies," replied Leonor casually, which made Mathias start contemplating about accepting Leonor's help, and it was a no-brainer.

He agrees with Leonor, and tells her about Lady Ann, and how she become his Workshop Administrator while he could now focus on his path of becoming a Red Knight.

Leonor was impressed by how versatile and good he at finding people that have worth that at first hand might seem unnoticeable in hindsight, but now, even if he didn't ask for their help, they came to support him just as he did to them.

Besides, she found it firsthand how charming and charismatic Mathias was when she was discussing this closely with him, and how articulate and well-spoken he was, having answers for most of her questions.

And out of curiosity, she asks him if he didn't do some Workshops or Cenacles when he was younger.

"By the way, Matei, have you ever participated in Workshops or Cenacles?"

*Chuckle* "Why do you ask? Am I speaking too fast? Or you are scared that I am such a nerd?"

"Is not that, just a curiosity of mine."

"Ahh, I see. Then, no. I haven't participated in any of those, however, I will tell you my secret, and it better remain between us … The reason I might be good at speaking is that I am a part-time light-novel author. But I guess, it shouldn't be that, maybe that's how I am when I talk about something I know."

"A light-novel author? Someone who stays all his time in front of a computer, typing all day long on their keyboards?"

She looks surprised, not expecting Mathias to be the type of person to be a writer since he didn't look like one, someone who would stay all his time in front of a computer, typing all day long on his keyboard.

When Mathias hears this type of stereotype from Leonor, he laughs and tells her that maybe a part of writers are like the ones she mentioned, but he tells her that those authors who have a longevity carrier are the ones who take care of their bodies since what mattered the most in being a writer was to have a strong mind.

Telling her his Inkpen, and the main platform he was writing on, out of curiosity, Leonor goes on that website and searches Mathias's story [Justinian's Restorations], and with her eyes screening the synopsis that only allowed some lines, only from those words it made her curious to see the story of this person called Justinian, as she had no idea about history.

"Ahem, this is a bit embarrassing. Are you going to read my story, right now?"

"Yea, why not?" inquired Leonor who noticed Mathias giving her a small smile that looked to be coming from embarrassment, which to her looked quite cute.

"I hope you don't mind some of my mistakes. Also, I hope you enjoy it. Besides, you don't have to know any historic information about those characters, but if you are curious, the setting of my story is taking place in the 5-6th Century, the Era when the Roman Emperor, Justinian, attempted to Restore the Roman Empire."

"And, does Petrus manage to restore the Empire?" asked Leonor in a cute manner, as she was gazing at Mathias's green eyes while the young man smiled at her, telling, sounding mysterious.

"Where's the fun in spoiling you such a big thing? The path itself is a long one for Petrus, and you'll see his growth as a person, from someone who struggles with the farming activities of Illyria Province to a mature Emperor who makes decisions with an Iron Fist, unswayed by his advisors or senators."

"Mhmm, sounds like those stories like Game of Thrones. I've read that one, and even though it is rather old, the story is still great. Have you tried that book?"

"Obviously. If you know Game of Thrones and you liked the book, then you'll probably enjoy my story."

*Chuckling* "You are so-so in selling your story. But you convinced me with the synopsis."

They spend a little bit more, and Mathias prepares to take off, telling Leonor to watch for herself, and if she feels lonely to not fear calling him, since he was now an unemployed guy who had all the time in the world.

Once Leonor was left alone, she thought to herself what a nice man Mathias was, that outshined all her experiences with men. She knew a decent amount of information about him but to the extent that it was about the professional side of his life, and his commitment and personality were all with flying grades.

.

.

On the other hand, Mathias who returned to his car, took off and since he was living not that far from Leonor arrived to the private parking, and had to walk a bit more to get to his house, and once there, he breathed out tired, barely now showing the signs of his weakness.

He didn't have a proper sleep, and the first thing he did was take a hot shower, and went fast asleep, placing his alarm to wake him in 6 hours, which would be correlated to 2 PM.

"I hope I don't get distracted by having less sleep. Heh, it's just one day, no need to worry. I also thought about some strategies to defeat those Goblins faster than I was actually doing, by combining a mix of magic attacks and melee strikes to keep them guessing."

He was preparing himself for a long day, where he intended to clear the whole Goblin's Cave, and waking up after his precious sleep, he was brimming with energy, hitting up his workout after a meal, and only then he jump back in Satisfy.

Waking himself inside a room that suffered a lot of marks of War, the boundary the Goblin Champion Stopped when he chased Sera and her teammates.

{Ready to dance, son?}

'I was born ready.'

As Mathias started his day inside Satisfy by greeting Haycien and doing some jokes to ease up the dark atmosphere of the Goblin Cave, his hearing picked up the signs of conflict being staged at the beginning of the Goblin Cave, as if the monsters reclaimed back their tunnels, which put to work the players attempting to clear the cave.

'It should be that group of players who returned after getting killed by the Goblins. Are you curious to see how they are faring old Hay?'

{As you wish. I don't mind checking on your people and how badly they suck at fighting.}

With his confirmation, even though he didn't need one, Mathias moves from the back of the Goblins and hides his presence using his Arcane Magic watching the whole fight being played out.

「Lv.110 Goblin Champion (Elite)

Monster Type, Dark Type

Health: 46,716/55,650 (84%) 」

It was actually the Goblin Champion who had an elite team of Goblins fighting Sera and her party that leveled 2 times since he saw them.

The fight wasn't going so well for them, with the three big mouths that mocked and made fun of him, being sent to the Reincarnation Cycle, leaving only Sera, the Tank, Bernard, and the Healer Eric, who struggled to get out from the Goblin's Encirclement.

"Don't give up the fight right now. At least let's take some of them with us." commanded Sera with a tone that was dead-set on her mission, a thing which made Mathias to humm, which was out loud.

When that humming was heard, Sera didn't even bother herself to register it, but someone else registered that cold voice, the Goblin Champion turned his head toward where Mathias was hiding with his Arcane Magic, screaming something in a language the players or Mathias couldn't understand.

{I have no idea what this inferior creature is screaming. But if you ask for my opinion, just kill him already.}

Sera then saw the Goblin Champion who was holding a Rusted Axe charge toward a wall behind him, screaming from the top of his lungs in a murderous manner, and with that charge, the voice of a man was spreading around the cave, as if it belonged to a ghost.

"You got bold, you green parasite. Instead of fighting me, you should have probably scrammed to your boss, and reported to him that you rats are done for."

"Arcane Blast"

[You've dealt 4550 damage to the target!]

From nowhere, Sera could see a blinding dark-purple bolt that hit the Goblin Champion which made the monster grunt in the excruciating pain he was suffering, and visible seeing how the monster's health gauge dropped from the magic strike.

Nevertheless, not stopping from his charge, and with his Axe swinging toward the wall, the Goblin was ruthless, as if in an attempt to kill Mathias in one strike, the players heard the mysterious man, call his voice undisturbed or scared.

"Phantom Step."

Sera could see the exact man she didn't put in her eyes, as believing him to be a magician, which initially with his initial Arcane Spell, it proved her theory, but what she saw Mathias hold in his arms was Ragnius, the large spear with a mix appearance of a halbert and trident, that he spun with great momentum once, activating "Ghost Spear - Mars" which wounded all the goblins in his weapon radius, grabbing them closer to him.

[You've dealt an AoE attack of <1882> damage to all enemies in reach.]

"Arcane Explosion"

[You've dealt an AoE attack of <3576> damage to all enemies in reach.]

From his body, a dark-purple energy wave was released which struck all the goblins that were brought meters away from him, which all were sent flying colliding with the tunnel walls.

The small group of players who saw this unique playstyle and also the Black-Crimson Spear watched with surprise as the man wearing a hat that covered most of his hair, leaving only some strands of crimson hair, was decimating those goblins solo.

Sera, couldn't help but think of a single name when seeing that peculiar moveset and way of fighting as if it belonged to their own world. It came from an older video that was rather viral about one year ago with the Beta Phase, the Black Spearman and now he was right here, before them.

'How couldn't I make this connection? Only a Top 10 High-Ranker could possess such skills. He cleaved about 10k DMG in a short sequence of attacks, something which would take us some minutes of struggle to even hurt the Champion even after making up a plan for battle.' thought the young woman when seeing Mathias deal so easily with the goblins.

"Young lady. You can have the mice, earn some EXP to level up. I will deal with the big vermin. Does it sound fair?" asked Mathias in a dignified voice, which took Sera by surprise.

'Is he talking with me??' thought the young woman, who was brought back by her teammate, Bernard who coughed.

"Hmm? Ahh, yes, yes. It's all good. Thanks for the assistance." mentioned Sera who was swift to instruct her party members to start their assault on the wounded Goblins who on 60% HP since suffering Mathias's AoE attacks, they become easy prey.

Also, thanks to Ghost Spear technique, those smaller goblins wounded by Ragnius were bleeding hard, suffering the 'Bleeding' debuff which was like a ticking clock counting the time before they would die from their wounds.

'This guy even has such strong Debuffing skills. Bleeding is one of those Top Tier debuffs which can be used on multiple game styles.'

With the players taking over the annoying Goblins, Mathias used 'Raven's Movement' to dash toward the Goblin Champion who was charging at him.

The clash of weapons between the two seemingly "Monsters" did a shockwave that blasted the dust from the tunnel, making Sera and her group to watch with impressed eyes.

"Eric, give that guy some buffs." said Sera out loud, to the blonde middle-aged priest, who was quick to act, mentioning.

"I can only give him buffs that don't require a party."

"It's fine. Just give him some extra to be safe. We might be able to clear this Dungeon at last with him."

"Well, only if he agrees to team up with our party."

"Don't worry, I will try my best to have him join our team. Temporary." said the young woman to her party members who were doubtful after their first interactions with him.

"Tsk, because of those 3 idiots, now we might have lost our chance." commented the Tank who was pushing away 3 Goblins who tried to jump on the priest that was focusing his buffs on Mathias.

"Maybe not, we can never know. From how he ignored us in the start, he might have already forgotten about those 3 big mouths." commented the priest, about to finish casting his last buff that buffed Mathias's AP.