Saharan Successor

Vol. 2 – Chapter 3 - Mother and Master Tailor

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Mathias, who felt slightly better knowing that he was in Fayrene's natal village, Cidarian, walked around the small village, where the simple people of the village seemed to look with a worried gaze at them. However, Mathias smiled at them and even waved his hand at the kids in a friendly manner, unlike the players who just rushed toward the biggest house of this village which could symbolize the place of residence for the leader.

Not focusing on stealing the start, instead, wanting to find Fayrene's family, he started approaching the citizens of the village who seemed to be scared of him and wanting to retreat back to their houses.

"Don't worry, I am not here to hurt you, people. Can we talk a bit? I have some questions for you." asked Mathias, a man who was in his 50s who, hearing Mathias' calm voice, stopped inquiring.

"What would an outlander wish from me? The Elder of the village is in the biggest mansion, prepared to give you tasks. We got nothing for you."

"I see. However, what I wanted to ask you is if you have ever heard about a girl called Fayrene?"

The man, when hearing about Fayrene, had his expression changed a bit, turning vigilant, but a woman that was in her 20s exited the house next by, asking Mathias back.

"How do you know about Fayrene? What business do you have with her? So you know, she has left the village, never to return."

Turning his gaze at her, he nodded calmly before asking her and the man.

"Her family is still in the village, correct?"

"Indeed."

"Shh, stop saying anything more than that, daughter. What if he is one of those bandits lurking in the mountain? Let me deal with him. Why are you looking for Fayrene and her family? Are you trying to harm them, to take revenge?"

Hearing the man ask him that, he started to laugh a bit while shaking his head, denying such accusation or even thought of the guy, telling them he was a friend of Fayrene who had a message for her parents.

When hearing that, their vigilance lessened, and as they talked more with Mathias, getting accustomed to him, and along with the view of the players in the background rushing in and out of the village, Mathias was someone like them.

"It is on the opposite side of the village where you can find Jasmine and Charles along with their young. Your visit bringing news about their daughter might put a smile on their face, easing their worries about her whereabouts."

Thanking the man and young woman for their time, he followed the direction given and passing some houses made of wood, he got to his target. A house like the other, with a garden and a decent-sized farm at the back where farm animals were grazing the greenfield.

In the distance in the greenfield, he could see two small boys standing around a middle-aged man looking after their sheep, while in the courtyard of the house, a middle-aged woman was standing on a rocking chair sewing some clothes.

"Fayrene took after her mother." commented Mathias when seeing this mature woman, who was a mirror of Fayrene, only that age marked her but in the good aspect, even having similar violet eyes.

She raised her head from the clothes she was sewing and was surprised to see Mathias wearing his rag clothes gazing at her with such calm and warm eyes. It felt weird for her not to recognize him as one of the villagers.

"Young man, how can I help you? Do you wish to buy some clothes from me?"

"Greetings to you, madame. Unfortunately, I have no money on me, but I am not here for this. In fact, I am here bringing some news to you."

"What could that news be? Please, come in, don't stay at the gate." said the woman whose name 'Jasmine' was of a silver color which looked to contain some golden glimpse on it, getting up from her chair to watch Mathias clearer.

Receiving her welcome, Mathias smiled warmly at her, entering inside the courtyard and walking toward the woman before giving her a respectful bow, almost saying something he would say when greeting his mother.

"Hello madame, I am Mathias. I am bringing news about Fayrene, and because I was in the vicinity of Cidarian, I thought I could find her family and share this with them."

"Ahh, my darling sent another letter? The last one was one month ago."

"Unfortunately, I am not one of those letter carriers. It is slightly complicated and embarrassing."

Jasmine, when hearing this mysterious young man, say that with awkwardness in his voice, gazed at him, trying to search for some hints that he might be an enemy, but she couldn't find anything because Mathias was truly genuine in his approach, not leaving a bit of doubt.

'He seems to know my daughter. He is not a boy from the village for sure, so who could he be? What's his relation with my daughter?' thought Jasmine as she guided Mathias inside the house, walking to prepare some tea.

Mathias tried to stop her, not wishing to disturb her too much, but Jasmine was adamant in giving him some of her tea from the fresh leaves she cultivated from her garden.

"Did you settle your mind? You looked a bit agitated when I asked you about the background you have with my daughter."

"Madame, I am Fayrene's lover. Because of certain circumstances, I was transported here from Titan, without having the chance to have some better clothes and also bring her with me to visit you." said Mathias, a half-true, who didn't give out some information that might seem confusing.

Instead, the explanation he cooked was something palpable, easy to understand. Nevertheless, Jasmine had her doubts, and to clear them, she started asking Mathias questions about Fayrene.

From her height to eye color, body appearance, things she loved to do, her job, background inside Titan, even touching some intimate questions.

Mathias responded flawlessly to every question since he was beside her parents, someone who knew her to perfection or at least close to that point. When he got to the intimate questions, he bowed his head low, apologizing in a quiet voice.

"Sorry mother, we didn't wait for the marriage and consumed our love."

Jasmine seemed surprised by this confession from where she was standing on a chair, and looking at Mathias expression, she told him with a warm voice.

"None of my concerns, my daughter is a big girl who can take care of herself and decide for herself. You don't have to apologize for anything. In fact, you saying all of this made me so happy. I can finally see with my eyes, my little grandchildren. So many of the girls close in age to Fayrene are already married and have children, yet my daughter decided to follow a hard path. Child, you don't know how happy I am knowing my little girl managed to accomplish all of those things."

He just smiled at this kind woman as she began talking about Fayrene's childhood and the mischief she has done when little, in doing so creating a harmonious atmosphere in the house that lasted until the doors of the house was opened, with two kids entering inside.

"Mom, we are back!"

"Ahhh, it has already been two hours. My, let me start heating up the food for you boys. Theo, Aendyr, let me introduce you to your elder brother, Mathias."

Mathias still couldn't see the newcomers, but soon the two kids about 10 years old he saw in the distance in the greenfield had short black hair with tanned skins from all the work outdoors.

They looked shy at this stranger, wanting to retreat at their mother, but she was busy preparing the food, leaving them with Mathias and noticing their shyness and even slight fear of the unknown man. He got on his feet, lowering to their level, later doing a friendly greeting.

"I am your sister Fayrene's closest friend, Mathias."

"Hey brother, did he by chance say he is big sister's husband, or did I hear it wrong?" asked the little boy called Theo, his twin brother Aendyr, who stared at Mathias with something akin to a strong adult.

"Indeed, let's test him. Hey you, how many moles does big sister have on her neck?"

"Hmmm, that's really a tricky question, little guy. Is this your final check on me?"

"If you respond, I will believe you are my sister's husband. If you can't even answer that, you are an imposter."

Jasmine, who was not far from the main room, could hear her sons checking on Mathias, which had her laughing at the situation, but intervening in telling her sons to cut it off.

"It is fine, lady Jasmine. Kids like to play around." responded Mathias, not minding the tough question the little guy placed him under.

Gazing at the boy's brown eyes, making them look a bit scared, he told them after pondering, remaking Fayrene's body in his mind, each of her body parts were still fresh in mind along with the touch sensation.

"Two small moles, one in the front and another at her nape. This is the answer to your question, little guy. Have I passed the test?"

The twins looked at one another, surprised, and retreated for a bit to discuss, asking if the answer was right.

"I don't know. It has been one year since big sister left the village. He should be right. Don't you know the answer since you asked it yourself?"

"I kind of forgot. I know big sister Fayrene had some moles on her neck between two or four. He should be right."

"Am I right, little guy? Do you also want me to draw an image of your sister?"

"Yeaa! Do that, and we will acknowledge you as big sister's husband."

Chuckling at the boys, he asked them to bring him something to write on, either be it ink or sand, which the kids were quick to react, dashing to another room of the house coming with a box with sand, something used to write and teach kids to write and do math.

"Is this good enough, big brother?" asked Theo, holding on to the sandbox.

Taking it in his hand, he ruffled his head a bit before dropping on the floor, and with the slender stick used to write, he began drawing Fayrene.

As he was drawing Fayrene, the twins were at his side, watching with curiosity at the image that began showing on the sandbox. There was also another person who arrived inside the house, the middle-aged man whose hair was of black color with black eyes, he was quite the handsome man, but the years made their mark on him too.

He wanted to enquire about Mathias and make some noise, but Jasmine told him to stay quiet, she too was interested in the drawing Mathias was doing, and after some minutes, as the food was cooking, Mathias stopped from his draw, creating only a portrait of Fayrene.

"This is all I could do with my meager skills. I hope I didn't put up a bad display to you."

"What are you saying big brother, you drew big sister so well. As if she is in front of us. We are sorry for doubting you big brother." called out Theo beside Mathias, who complimented his work, something that all of the family of 4 did, being impressed with his skills.

Jasmine, who watched Mathias' careful moves, asked him to find a response to one of her thoughts.

"Dear, could it be that Fayrene taught you how to sew? Or you already knew this before meeting her?"

"Indeed, she was the one who taught me, mother. She constantly reminded me of your mastery of the art and the fact that she was far away from reaching your skills."

"That girl, even after all these years. I am not that great as she makes me seem, so let's not exaggerate, compared to the master tailors of the big cities. Anyway, it seems my daughter is healthy and still as beautiful as she was when she left, if not even more beautiful, with that smile on her face. Thank you, dear, for keeping my daughter safe."

"Can we even mention this, mother? Isn't my role in protecting her? I will soon return to Titan, and in the future, we will visit you together."

"Of course, child. It's been one year since my little girl left, being all alone in that big city to make a future for herself pushing her craft further ahead." said Jasmine with a kind smile on her face, helping Mathias raise up from his knees.

Raising up on his feet, he noticed the newcomer, the one who should be Fayrene's father, or better called, his father-in-law, who he respectfully greeted, to which Charles nodded, gazing at him as if to find any bads about him. After that moment, he went to shake Mathias's hands where he tested his strength, to which he was satisfied, especially when he noticed that his hands had some wounds and calluses.

"You are a hard-working lad. It's nice seeing that my little girl finally found herself someone. She rejected all the lads in the village and even went to Titan. However, is that the custom of Titan, for men to have long hair?"

"This? No, does it bother you sir?"

"Well…" started Charles to talk, before Jasmine cut him short, saying to him  "Charly, quiet."

"Don't take this old man seriously, he lived all his life in the village and didn't see the outside, with maybe some rare occasions when he went to Grenhaler to sell livestock. I myself don't care about your appearance as long as my daughter is happy. I even read stories about the legendary elfs and their noble appearance, with long hair reaching their backs, and tall, slender bodies."

"Those stories might be right, mother."

With the food ready, Jasmine welcomed Mathias at their table, and even gave him some food. Jasmine kept talking with Mathias, being curious about this young man, well-spoken and behaved, and when she heard about the fact he wanted to craft himself his new clothes, she offered her help.

"I can help you with the fabrics I have stored. I've stopped from crafting so many clothes that I would sell in Grenhaler to keep the farm aloat when we wouldn't sell the livestock. Follow me after the meal to my workshop, you will have everything required to tailor your clothes."

"Please, no need to be bothered with my problems. I haven't come here to request for help or anything, in fact, I want to help around the farm until I have everything prepared. Since my stay here will be for some weeks because I need to train my spear techniques and magic."

"Wow, big brother, you are also a knight and magician?"

Smiling at the kids who were talking with food in their mouths, he told them to don't talk when eating, and turning his gaze at Jasmine and Charles, he heard the woman tell him.

"Dear, you can stay here for as long as you want. We are family now. You can sleep with the boys until you leave. How does it sound?"

"Hah, do I even have a choice, mother?" asked Mathias, barely containing his happy laughter, for he was received in such a warm manner

"No." replied Jasmine, making Charles laugh out loud, making him tell him the two would have fun at the farm.

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After the meal, Mathias followed after Jasmine, where behind him were the twins sticking around with him, curious about their new brother craft, that was similar to their sister and mother, and once inside, he could see the room being illuminated by the outside light, where the smell of leather was intense.

Basking in this serene environment, while looking around the studio, Jasmine pointed him to where her tools were located, the fabrics she had available at hand, and the colorants for the fabric coloring. Afterwards, she inquired about what Mathias planned to craft, to which Mathias began drawing the clothes similar in style to the Victorian Era clothes.

A black dress, with a hat to match the mysterious look, assorted with a crimson tie.

When Jasmine saw the sketches, she couldn't find something similar in her mind telling him with some youth spirit in her voice.

"I didn't expect you to do such a daring project. Can I take my words back? I also want to take part in this project and help my son-in-law take aback my daughter when he returns to her."

"That's really a cool dress, big brother. " said the twins getting on tip-toes to see the sketch on the table, later being raised by Mathias where they could see properly.

"When you grow bigger, I will make one for you too, with the same color or different, as you will wish at that time." mentioned Mathias, ruffling their heads after placing them down.

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It didn't take long for the duo of son and mother-in-law to begin their work, preparing the fabrics, from silk fabrics to leather fabrics, Jasmine had everything in her studio, a remarkable quality of a respected tailor. Taking Mathias' measurements for every cloth piece from the hat, shirt and pants and noting them down, the two began cutting the materials for the materials.

As they worked, the twins got bored of watching the young man and mature woman tailor and opted to return to their father who was smocking from a pipe while sculpting in wood the small figure of a girl.

"Ahhh, we caught you father. So it was you who made those small sculptures."

"Heh, what about it, little Aendyr, do you want to give it a try? How do you think I made my pocket money for tobacco? Otherwise, your mother wouldn't give me a coin."

"But I heard from Lady Eveline that smoking is bad for the body. Shouldn't you listen to the doctors?"

"I'll be fine, son. This small pipe will not harm my body in any shape or form. The air of Gravelmark just clears my body."

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Hours passed, and Mathias who was working on the pair of pants, managed to finish them being assisted by Jasmine, giving him the notifications of Item Creation along with him opening back the 'Tailoring Technique' and the 'Dexterity' stat.

[Ding] [You have created along with Master Tailor Jasmine the first Epic Item, receiving the rewards. Level Up 1x + Title: Item Creator]

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[Title: Item Creator]

Dexterity: +150

Increase the odds of creating an Rare Item by: 10%

Increase the odds of creating an Epic Item by: 5%

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[You have created a piece of equipment without blueprints, requiring a name]

'The name will be 'Exquisite Victorian Pants'.'

[Name has been registered for the item you have created. The following items following the designs of the item will hold the same name.]

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[Beginner Tailoring Technique]

Equipment items can be made from various fabrics and leather materials. If a tailor would craft armor, he could only craft leather armor and cloth armor.

There is a very rare probability of producing rare-epic rated items

*When rare items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +2, and reputation throughout the continent will rise by 10

* When epic-rated items are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +4, and reputation throughout the continent will rise by +20

[Gaining the Tailoring Technique also opens the Dexterity stat. Gaining 10 points as starting reward for the finished work]

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Jasmine who looked at the pair of trousers, looked pleased as she gave Mathias a smile, telling him.

"The quality of the sewing on this one is good. It could sell high on Grenhaler or even Titan. My little Fayrene taught you well. Congratulations. But the result has been influenced by me, so don't get arrogant, okay, son?"

"Mother, I am surprised. Fay never mentioned that you were a Master Tailor."

"That's in the past, child. When I was young, I used to be called Master Tailor inside Grenhaler, but after settling down in this village, I dropped from such high titles. I don't miss at all those events or nobles flashing their wealth around.

My Charly, while being a bit slow and narrow-minded at times, he is a sweetheart nonetheless, even after all those years."

"It is good to know that, mother. This means you weren't from this village?"

"No, I was born close to Grenhaler, and lived my childhood and adolescent life helping my family tailoring business. I guess the art of tailoring and the talent is running in the family." said Jasmine while laughing with a proud smile on her face, patting Mathias shoulder.

He too chuckled a bit, finding it quite the story, for a city lady to settle down in a small rural village and live her life here with her husband, raising her children in a clean and healthy environment outside of the city, bad influences.

He took a look at how the pants looked, and could only look surprised at how nice they turned out to be. For even Jasmine a Master Tailor to compliment her work, it could only mean success.

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[Exquisite Victorian Pants]

Rating: Epic

Durability 200/200  Defense: 135

* Intelligence increased by 105 points.

* Magic Power increased by 10%

* Magic Resistance increased by 20%

This is a work made by Mathias and Master Tailor Jasmine Arundell using new concepts and designs that stirred the passion for the craft to the experienced tailoress. Combining the work of both hands, the feelings of the craftsmen are imprinted in the piece.

Using magically imbued silk and threads, the cloth piece took over the properties of the material, which was transformed under the masterful hands of Jasmine.

Condition of Use: None

Weight: 70

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"Mother, you really are good. A master, nonetheless. You have my respect, but aren't those materials expensive and hard to procure?"

"They would have dusted on my storage chest, working together with my son-in-law to create such cloth pieces, makes me want to return back to the tailoring scene."

"Mother, me and Fayrene plan to make a big tailoring business inside the Titan and Saharan Empire. I am sure when I return with her, she will tell you her plans since it has become something akin to a dream."

"She does? My, you young people sure are burning with passion. I will think about it, son. Maybe I will contact my family to help your establishment with materials."

"You don't have to do anything. Let us do the heavy work. If you wished to return to tailoring, you would be our guest and someone with a decisional power, but that's it if you want to experience that feeling again."

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[A/N: An welcoming embrace from the Arundell Family. Good for Mathias, he now knows his inlaws.]

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[Jasmine, the mother master tailor, who would have expected. Fayrene mentioned that her mother is the one who taught her how to sew, but who would have thought she was a Master Tailor.  Would he be carried by his mother-in-law by making the clothes with her?]

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