Saharan Successor

Vol. 1 - Chapter 16 - Sleeping Mechanics Patched

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Following a working day where nothing interesting happened, he moved according to an imprinted schedule where he would wake up at 6 AM and be at work at 7, then leaving at 15:00 PM.

Everything was well structured in his schedule.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened to him at the job, the hotel was still not in season, and it remained at half capacity, giving him an easier life when it came to cleaning the rooms.

Once home, he prepared some food while the laptop was trying not to die on his own accord.

"Come, buddy, it is not your time yet. You still got some years in you, so don't you dare to give me the blue screen." commented Mathias as he walked into the main room with some plates in hand, placing them on the table where the laptop was located.

Mathias moved with his plate at the small table at the laptop, and by habit, he first checked his emails that seemed to contain one notification.

<[New observation and updates]>

"Ehh, this mail is from S.A Group. Did something happen with the game?" pondered Mathias on an absurd thought.

<Dear Players, we are writing this to inform you that under the consideration of a vast majority of testing players, we changed the process of log out so that the avatars will also disappear in the process.

We observed that the safety of the players is jeopardized by the initial system by leaving the avatars exposed, in so affecting your playing experience.

This change proposal was agreed with the majority of the developers and chairman and has been introduced in the system mechanics.

Thank you for your understanding.

S.A Communication Team / [sent at: 4:20 AM]>

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"They really listen to their players? But what is up with this change? Isn't this, in a sense nerfing the game and the realistic aspect of it?" asked Mathias while considering the benefits and disadvantages of this change.

"Wait, but how would we be able to explain to the NPC's our absence? Isn't this unsighted from their side to not have this aspect fixed too?"

While eating he started to browse through the forums. He started looking for threads that discussed this topic and when he looked at the most popular thread, he saw the eye-catching caption "I solved the mystery of the change."

Glancing at that title, he was attracted by the idea of knowing first hand what happened and opening this page created from the moment of the mail arrival, at 4:30 AM.

It had the author of the thread who by now had his forum account boosted to the "Respected Community Member" rank, describing how he first reacted and solved the mystery of this system change with his friends.

< Listen, guys, I think I figured out what the devs did with the game. They only changed our mechanism of logging out that would make us disappear from the field of view of the NPC's. The logging out animation is similar to the one where we die, scattering around with light.

One of my friends moved back to Reinhardt with me and log out inside a tavern. Those NPC didn't overreact at all, like they usually do when we first started playing, cursing us and calling us all sorts of shitty names. (A/N: Reinhardt – is the capital of Eternal Kingdom)

Then when I asked one of those guys to describe what happened, he told me without much consideration that my friend returned to the underworld, the place for us 'cursed ones, ' meaning the resting place for the player.

Thank me later with some points after you get to see for yourself.>

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"So they introduced a concept to the NPC's system about the player's resting dimension. Probably is a similar place as the death waiting room. I guess this might solve some inconveniences even for me."

"It would have been awful to wake up from my hunting ground straight to the spawning location because I died. Or worse, lose an important item worth a fortune."

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Ending with his search and also eating, he stretched his body a bit before walking toward the capsule, starting the game.

The loading part remained the same, along with the warm, welcoming message, before turning the engines on him to direct him on the game itself.

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Subsequent to that, he had his eyes open and could see the same awakening like the ones from death.

'This part of the logging isn't half bad. I might get used to it.'

Then as all processes ended, he heard a scream all of a sudden coming from a woman.

"AHHH, a ghost has come to haunt me after reciting that spell! No, wait. It is just you, Mathias, but I thought you went out for a walk again."

He gazed around himself and could see Fayrene backed away, and lying down on the counter, he rested his avatar last night. Sensing the soft fabrics of the dress they worked on, he quickly jumped off the counter and explained to her.

"No, I haven't. It seems Goddess Rebbeca had something else in store for us 'cursed ones', making a dimension for us to linger there until waking up. Not disturbing the people of this world."

"It is this so? Phew, in the future, you better don't rest your body in weird places. You almost made me start sending my [Arcane Missiles]." expressed Fayrene, breathing at ease, getting closer to the counter and arranging the fabrics back.

Mathias just smiled awkwardly and turned his eyes on the game's timer, indicating the hour 18:34.

'It seems days have passed inside the game since last night. Sigh, she worked alone on this work?'

"Let me do the cleaning, Fayrene." said Mathias as he got to the counter and started arranging in order the fabrics he messed up.

She wanted to stop him, but he was shrewd and bypassed her hands that tried to push him away.

After he was done cleaning, he asked her with a calm tone. "Did you have something to eat since morning?"

Fayrene just gazed at Mathias as she moved her hands around her work, ignoring what she was asked. At that moment, Mathias walked to the kitchen and took some eggs from a shaded space she used to store food, along with some vegetables.

As if he was doing his cooking for himself, he started beating the eggs on a wooden bowl with a metal spoon, later moving to prepare the vegetables that he mixed in the egg mix.

The fire was heating up the room at the fireplace, and while Fayrene was focused on her work, Mathias started cooking an omelet.

Minutes later, he placed the omelet garnished with fresh green parsley on a plate and walked back to the workstation, saying to Fayrene.

"Fayrene, let's take a break. I made you something to eat."

"Immediately, just a bit more, I am starting the sewing process." responded Fayrene focused on her work, before Mathias shook his head, moving to put a stop to her work.

"This is what you said last time we worked. A break is good once in a while to relax a bit and take your mind off work. Believe me, the progress you will make in 10-20 minutes of continuous work on an empty stomach will not be compared to a well-relaxed mind.." explained Mathias after he placed his hand on her shoulder, saying close to her.

Fayrene sighed and slowly stopped her work. When she did that, her stomach released a sound, signaling that it was empty for a long time, making her face turn red from embarrassment.

Patting her shoulder, Mathias walked with her to the kitchen, presenting her his cooking.

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"Hot, *blowing air*. Ahh, it almost burned my tongue. Still, delicious food Mathias. I never expected you to know how to cook food."

"Fortunately for me, I have a nagging mother who keeps reminding me that I have to learn to cook otherwise I will starve because girls nowadays can't even cook." said Mathias with a chuckle while looking at Fayrene, gazing at him as she was eating.

"She is wrong. Most girls learn to cook from a young age." replied Fayrene, a bit offended.

"Sadly not from where I am. Actually, I was shocked to taste your food because it reminds me of my moms." told Mathias with a smile on his face, in doing so, having Fayrene nod her head pleased by the compliment.

"Compared to my mother's food, my cooking is bland." confessed Fayrene with a warm voice.

"I see. I'm sure over time, your cooking skills will improve if you continue to work on them."

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After Fayrene finished eating Mathias's omelet, she started discussing with Mathias about the spells she began experimenting around.

She wanted to use a powerful form of [Arcane Missile], called [Arcane Orb], but she stumbled upon a block. She was losing control whenever she tried to accumulate power.

"This is what happens for about 3 days. Whenever I try to cast [Arcane Orb], my mana starts heating up, making me collapse the spell. What should I do?"

"Interesting. But, aren't you worrying too much? Look at me. I can't even cast a proper spell. I was about to make a joke of myself not too long trying to make that shovel. Meanwhile, you are doing fine, casting your spells in about one minute or less."

"This doesn't count. I have been studying arcane spells for one year. It is normal I cast those spells faster and have better control over the mana." explained Fayrene as she rested on her chair.

Mathias just shook his head and reminded Fayrene. "You remember what the Archmage wrote in the book? We can't hurry with this type of magic. If we take a wrong step, we will turn to ashes, and all of our progress will amount to nothing."

Hearing Mathias says that she touched her right arm and kept her silence was enough to tell Mathias that she understood what he alluded to.

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Then with their break over, they walked back to the workstation and started working on the dress, who slowly started getting life until night came knocking on their door.

Mathias, who assisted her from the side, started cleaning the workstation, giving Fayrene a well-deserved break.

When she went to sleep, Mathias was still active, starting to write on his story with a concentrated self. What he failed to notice because of his focused mind was that Fayrene went to walk to the kitchen, and in doing so, she saw for the first time this side of Mathias, who was writing like a possessed demon.

She stood there frozen in place when she exited her room, not knowing if she should move normally toward the kitchen.

'Is this really Mathias? What happened to him? His face is so serious. I have never seen him like this. It reminds me of the market incident.' thought Fayrene to herself before starting to walk on her tiptoes to not cause any disturbance.

'What time is it that he still writes? It should be 3 in the morning. Does he not sleep? Hah, he nags me about overworking when he is awake at this time? Well, he probably knows what he is doing.'

As she moved to the kitchen to drink some water, she later walked back to her room, going straight for her bed. Placing herself in a comfortable position, she tried to sleep but found trouble going asleep.

'Something is wrong with me. I can't sleep.'

Turning around in her bed, she kept doing this for about 40 minutes until she went to the dream space.

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Meanwhile, Mathias was still focused on writing until the clock showed 05:20 AM, the moment where he stopped suddenly, placing all the sheets of paper, inkwell, and quill pen back in his inventory.

Getting up from his chair, he walked outside of the building and took in the night scene of the district. The silent atmosphere was welcoming for Mathias, who walked into the courtyard and bringing Ragnius from his inventory. He began to train his spear attacks, drilling them like a diligent student.

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As he began moving his spear, he checked his stats, and a smile appeared on his face, seeing that his HP finally overtook the MP that made him feel like a wizard.

'Status Window'

Name: Mathias : Class: Beginner

Level: 1(0/400)  : Title: none

Health: 221/221/ Mana: 202/202

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Strength: 13 / Stamina: 14/ Agility: 7 / Intelligence: 25(+1)

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"Hmm, I should wear my new clothes since they give me some more INT stats that can boost my mana."

Saying that, he quickly put on the new clothes and boots and looked at his new INT stats and MP, which made him frown again, dissatisfied by how things turned out.

*Intelligence: 35(+1) / Mana: 222/222

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"This is annoying. No worries, after Fayrene advances with her dress, I will go outside of the city to look for monsters and wild beasts to hunt. For now, let's drill all of Corvus's moves into my body until I have them in my reflexes."

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Bringing Ragnius in his hand, he remembered the buffs he was getting from him and took a peek at his HP that grown with 5%, becoming 232.

With an eased mind, he started drilling the spear stances he learned, from [High Guard] to [Middle Guard] and [Low Guard], followed by attacking the air with [Piercing Rain], the three attack combo, flowing in rapid succession.

However, each use of the [Piercing Rain] attack consumed 40 MP that began to quickly take a toll on his mana resources.

Following this inability to use skills, he started drilling the basic attacks of the spear, [Thrust] and [Strike].

Then after three minutes of not casting any spell, he looked at his mana bar and saw that it was full again, which surprised him, making him contemplate on the rate of recovery for his MP.

"This was fast, I never bothered to check it, but this made me curious."

Saying that he activated [Raven's Movement] that boosted his movement speed, agility, and dodge rate, and started to move around the courtyard and unleashed his spear strikes, from [Piercing Rain] to [Sweep Thrust], consuming his MP immediately after just 30 seconds of drilling those skills.

The dark smoke that flowed around his feet like the raven's feathers stopped, along with himself.

He felt his breath shortening, accompanied by the notification that he was out of Stamina.

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With eyes placed on the mana bar, he waited 10 seconds and noticed that each 1 second, his MP began recovering 5 points at a time, propping him to calculate the formula for the MP recovery.

"For 5 points recovery speed, with the amount of intelligence I have and my level, should be something along this lines, my entire INT stats divided by 6 or 7 added with my level. If it is like this, it is really basic. However, the simplistic mechanics are the best in a game, no need for complicated formulas that even mathematicians can't calculate." (A/N: 36/(6+lvl) this is the formula for the MP recovery – 36 is the INT stat)

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Finding out the rate of his MP recovery, Mathias began to train the skills he had and also improve his control over the [Raven's Movement] that he found quit outstanding.

The flowing raven feathers coming off his feet was something that activated the childish side of himself, making him excited to see what else the [Raven's Movement] could do.

Then, with the coming of the sun, accompanied by the annoying cries of the roosters, he stabbed Ragnius on the ground and took got on the green field, laying on the ground, staring at the sun rising in the sky.

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Closing his eyes and welcoming the sun illuminating his face, he felt a shadow on his face, along with hearing her voice.

"You really are weird. Did you really stay up all night to train with the spear?"

"Thanks for the compliment. I am preparing myself for my journey outside of the city. I have an interesting location I want to reach, but I heard it is filled with monsters."

Fayrene, who stared at Mathias's face as he was closing his eyes, talking to her with a smile, inquired about his departure.

"When will you leave?"

"After you are half done with the dress, I will go around the forests and test myself against the wild beasts and the lurking monsters."

"Ohh, this is good. I thought you would leave when I just hit the hardest part of the tailoring process."

Hearing her voice filled with emotion, Mathias finally opened his green eyes and gazed at her quietly before saying to her.

"I might look like a bandit running from responsibilities, but trust me, when I start dancing, I finish my dance."