Vol. 2 – Chapter 58 - The Rebirth of a Violinist
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With the new day that came on, returning from his work without any changes to his schedule. Mathias began doing his menial tasks to keep his apartment in a clean environment, and afterward started working out for about one hour that he kept his heart rate slightly higher, burning some calories in that way, nothing out of ordinary for him, but he had a weird sensation in his legs as if he tore his muscle fibers and had constant cramps, but with him not doing any movements that would strain those muscles.
"What is happening with my legs? Damn, this hurts like heck. Let me stretch them out a bit and apply some ointment to calm the area in question."
Doing himself a leg massage, spreading the ointment on the calf's area that bothered him, he started scrubbing deep that ointment which contained some menthol, until the freshness and chilliness assaulted him.
"Good, this feels much better. I might have to check on the coach to see if I am doing something wrong in my movements. I'd rather not have this repeat to me again, because cramps are truly annoying to deal with."
Following that he entered the capsule without checking his laptop, and when he returned it was once again night, about 4 AM. The correlation of time was messing up with him at times, but he had no way of fixing it, just getting adjusted to it, and immediately as he stepped back in Satisfy, the first one to greet him was Haycien, who also woke himself from his stay in a blank world similar to the Death Realm the players would be brought when dead.
{What are you up to for today, lad? Same as the other days? Training and later spent time with your ladies.}
'Pretty much. I don't see my schedule shifting around as of late. Sometimes being consistent in what you are doing proves to be harder than one can imagine.'
{You are proud of this, lad? Of not changing your activities? Ohh, wait, actually you got a lot of things to do, that workshop together with the little girl.} remarked Haycien remembering the fact that Mathias will check around the city for an available place for his workshop.
'Another thing I learned is that I can withdraw my money from any banker inside the city, not just the Imperial Bank. This will make the transition easier for me, without bumping into the ones I did last time.'
Getting inside the house, he could see Vek snoring while sitting on the coach of the salon, and without bothering to wake him up, he went to sit at the workstation, taking out some fabrics from his inventory along with his tailoring equipment that were rather cheap, from the Grand Market, he began to sew them at the light of the Red Energy that was similar to lighting an old-style lightbulb. On the table was the sketch of a cape that had some fur material at the hoody area.
The cape had a medieval style to it, along with the small details he added on the sheet of paper, and with his materials and equipment sorted out, he began working on the winter cape.
{Here you are again, doing this tailoring. Aren't you bored?}
'Not really, it is quite fun nowadays. Similar to writing my story, but since I have plenty of chapters in advance there, I can disconnect from there, and focus on this other side-job, making clothes for my women.'
{That should be a winter coat?}
'A Winter Cape, that uses the linen, wool, and the wolves pelts I managed to gather to this day. They come in handy right now when I start working on those projects.'
Time passed and he worked uninterrupted on his project, seeing the progress being done with his own eyes, while at the same time training his control over the Red Energy as he manipulated it to light the workstation.
Then as he grabbed the wolves pelts, and positioned them around the hoody, he heard Fayrene waking up and walking out of her room, which prompted him to place all his work on his inventory, keeping it a secret from her.
"Morning, darling. Are you writing again?"
"No, this time I was playing with something else. How was your day yesterday, any incidents?" inquired Mathias, to check on the events taking place in Titan yesterday when he was out, until reconnecting to the game.
"As far I am concern, I didn't note anything down of noteworthy. Some players came to the shop, but I turned them down, with the same old excuse "Master hasn't returned to take orders."." remarked Fayrene yawning a bit, as signs that she clearly just woke up.
Mathias closed his Red Energy fire flys, and raising on his feet, he walked toward Fayrene taking her to his chest, looking into her eyes.
"No, my breath is smelly since I just woke up." said Fayrene, guessing what Mathias was about to do, and without showing any signs of care, the young man moved to give her a kiss on the lips, before ending it in a cheeky way.
"What are you talking about, you are so sweet. Smelly? I only smell this pleasant flavour to my taste buds and nose."
"Dummy, let me wash my face properly and prepare myself before getting all cheeky, or I will tease you."
Still holding her in his arms, staring at her beautiful face as she remarked that, he could only smile and place carelessly his hands on her buttchecks, fondling them a bit.
"That doesn't work on me, Fay. Haven't you learned your lesson in the past? But if you changed your tactics, who knows, maybe you will win."
Fayrene gave Mathias an evil smile, and as he played with her, she managed to fish her hands down, and capture an evil Leviathan, before she lowered her hands and touched the rocks of gibraltar, making Mathias expression turn scared.
"No, don't think about doing it. Fay, the fate of our descendants is on stake. If you squeeze, who knows what will happen."
"Ohh, really now? Then I'll want to see you slowly move off and leave my butt alone."
{Lad, be careful of the balls! Those are what's the most important! She is crazy if she is readying to squeeze}
'Quiet down old man, those aren't your balls at stake!'
{You idiot, that's why I am saying this!}
Mathias lowered his hands from Fayrene's plump buttchecks and with his hands in a vertical stance, he looked down at Fayrene's right hand that still was adamant on not letting go.
"Ahem, I know that outside is quite cold and all, but I can always hug you if you are cold. Those ones are for other purposes."
Fayrene, glanced amused at Mathias, before she released the hostages, freeing his descendants from a cruel fate, making the young lady chuckle as she walked toward the bathroom, and after she finished with her make-up and picking up some casual clothes, she returned back to Mathias who was tossing some coins at Vek in a silly way.
"What are you doing?"
"I am training his reflexes. Want to try? You only have to pick the coins I toss in your direction."
"No thanks, I am an Arcanist, what could physical reflexes do for me anyway?" asked Fayrene as he observed Mathias tossing coins at Vek as if he was tossing treats for a puppy.
Mathias who heard Fayrene comment smirked a bit, and remarked in a calm way.
"Reflexes for a Mage can also prove useful. An example for you would be when you are facing an enemy who usually fights in melee range, by having trained reflexes you can react faster to what situation is thrown at you in that said fight. Additionally, if I am not wrong, reflexes are connected to the mind, thus by training the reflexes you would also boost your mind."
"I see, I will take note of this. Anyway, are you ready to go outside? Didn't you say we will go out to look for a new location for the workshop?"
"Immediately. Little Vek this is the last round. All the coins you manage to pick are yours."
"Bring it on. I'll catch all the shiny coins."
Hearing Vek said that, it gave Mathias a bigger impulse, and in doing so he began throwing the coins faster at Vek with most of them hitting him directly in his face. Only a couple of coins did the kobold managed to pick from the ones thrown.
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Ending the play there, he left Vek inside while Fayrene and himself went outside hand in hand, as if they were on a date. Both looked normal appearance-wise, with Mathias still using his Chaperone Hat, and wearing clothes that were intended for winter, which looked rather protective compared to autumn or spring clothes. Fayrene too, had a comfortable pair of trousers made from some dyed black leather, pair of boots that give her some additional centimeters, making her almost the same height as Mathias, with a shirt and simple overcoat to protect her from the lowered temperature.
"There's no snow yet, but the temperature sure got lower." remarked Fayrene, holding Mathias hands, while exiting Wallmor District.
"Indeed, even the rest of the people took their comfy clothes for the winter out. We aren't the only ones who changed the clothes."
Fayrene glanced around herself where she could see the players walking around the streets just wearing their armors they gained from hunting or whatever they bought in the city, they didn't seem to care about the lowered temperature, which made them like outsiders in this type of setting.
@Fayrene: Mat, by chance are you feeling the lowered temperature or are you acting?
@Mathias: I can feel it. Why? Have you noticed the players on the streets who still wear their armors?
@Fayrene: Yea, and they don't seem to care at all.
@Mathias: Haha, just wait when the first snow comes and you'll see how pathetic they will look, asking for shelters or starting buying warm clothes for winter. The Fear of Cold is real even here, so prepare yourself for a show.
@Fayrene: You shouldn't laugh about it. Getting sick because of insufficient clothing sucks.
@Mathias: Yes, but those fools can't die for good, which will make it even comical seeing them storm the markets to get themselves warmer.
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In this way, Fayrene and Mathias exited the Wallmor District, passing by the familiar shops of the zone, such as the Utility shop, Tavern, Nelmon's Workshop, and so on, and something he could notice was that the Syndicate Criminals of the city were more disciplined, without causing ruckus inside the District or overall the entire city.
It felt as if the ones in charge shifted his strategies along with the appearance of the outlanders, and in doing so avoided the cases of players receiving quests of hunting the Syndicate guys.
Mathias asked Fayrene if she knew something about the new changes that were happening inside the Syndicates, in the range of time he wasn't inside Titan.
@Fayrene: I have no idea Mat, aside from that incident that happened to me with those guys who wanted to extort me, and got saved by Michael, since then I didn't have any rundowns with them. However, in the firsts weeks there was a lot of chaos inside the city with the Players attacking the citizens of Titan, maybe there's also a conflict between them and the Syndicates.
@Mathias: Hard to believe, but there are also some changes that you might be right. The only possibility is that they attacked the pawns of the Syndicate, since they are weak, which might have alerted the leadership of those groups, making them change their structure and tactics.
@Fayrene: Mat, I hope you will not get entangled with the Syndicates. I remember that you got angry when I told you that story of getting apprehended by the syndicate bastards.
@Mathias: Who knows. Right now I don't intend to do anything dangerous, I only want to grow our little workshop.
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Like this, the couple took on searching and looking around for an available location they could rent or buy, along the way also spotting at one of the banks where Mathias opened his Guild Storage, withdrawing all the funds inside.
Continuing with their search, they noted down some potential locations they stumbled upon, around the periphery, but with a good location closer to the Inner City.
In passing going for another location, from a Shop, two young ladies exited that place, a blonde one wearing the robe of a magician along with a thicker cape, along with another girl with brown hair, sporting a leather armor, trousers, high boots, and a thicker cape similar to the blonde girl. Stranded on her back was a medium-size bow made from the bones of a certain creature.
"Vivi, doesn't that person walking together with that raven-haired girl look close to Mathias? I can't tell from the hair since he has it covered by some hat, and the nameplate is also covered."
The brown-haired woman glanced in the direction the blonde girl pointed and could see the a couple walking hand in hand in the direction of the Inner City, and as she focused on his face, until she mentioned slightly taken aback.
"It is really him. I didn't see any video of some Syndicate bastard being killed, so it means he moved on with some quests. Still, Paula … who is that woman?"
"No idea. Why? Are you jealous?"
"Me?? Why should I?" inquired Vivian, glancing at Paula as if she eat something rotten,
"Well, you know better than me. Always constantly mentioning him, that's one of the first signs." remarked Paula chuckling, before Vivian put her hand on her mouth, saying in a sarcastic way, as she later brought her arms around Paula's waist, pinching her.
"What about you Paula, that guy Red is quite handsome himself. Aren't you lucky? Trying to seduce guys online, without even meeting them face to face, bad girl."
"There's nothing between me and James. We are just chatting, nothing that serious."
"Ohh really, and the reason you don't want to go to Toulmount is because of what?"
The girls were making fun of one another, but Mathias, who was distanced when passing by noticed his former teammates, and send them a greeting message, and checked on their levels to gauge the progress they made. Vivian was level 39, while Paula was level 38, among the top players of the game, but far from the top 5 they were after hunting Iljnoks with him.
Vivian saw the message interface ringing with an envelope icon, and a red mark, and opening it she saw Mathias's message.
@Mathias: It seems you girls are doing fine inside Titan, and even raised your levels in the process. Glad to see this, and don't forget if you need my help around, don't hesitate to ask me since I will be inside Titan for a while.
Paula glanced at Vivian, as if she received a message, and whispered to her friend.
"He really isn't an arrogant jerk to make it seem as if he doesn't know us."
"I know."
@Vivian: You really stagnated since the last time we played together, aren't you afraid I will hunt you down for some rewards?
@Mathias: Everything has its flow, me not leveling doesn't mean I am stagnating, lioness. How have you been?
@Vivian: Good enough to receive some quests from the Adventurer Guild that I cleared with Paula. Those two fools from the first party still tried to approach me, and recreate the party. Ahh, right, those two have turned into your biggest haters, so be careful.
@Mathias: I will, thank you for telling me. Hah, Vivian, if you want to join my guild, I don't mind it. You can always team up with my guild members since they reached your level.
@Vivian: Thanks, but no thank you. I don't need a guild right now.
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As Vivian said that, Mathias turned his head toward the Ranger gazing at her with his calm, ruby eyes, giving her a small understanding smile, before returning to his usual route, hearing Fayrene mention in a soft voice.
"Are those two the ones you teamed up to fight Iljnoks, the ones you mentioned in your story?"
"Hmm, indeed. Nice girls to be around. You could place your trust on them to carry on their task."
"I see, they are into those types of things? Party?"
"They play together, so you could consider that a party, but they aren't in a big group, like how I am, part of Leviathan. It makes me want to recruit them seeing them by themselves, and in the meantime I even extended an invitation."
"And the result?"
"I got rejected."
Fayrene when hearing Mathias mention that started chuckling a bit, patting on his shoulders, and joking.
"All your luck vanished when you met me and Jeanne."
"Maybe not." chuckled Mathias, continuing his journey toward the Inner City, to check the possible locations on sale or rent for the workshop.
Entering the Inner City, Fayrene felt the stares she received annoying, especially from the guys who wore wealthy clothes, making her snug closer to Mathias who remained unbothered, wandering the streets in search for places for buying.
The Inner City wasn't lacking in such places, and Mathias brought the a small notebook he crafted where using something akin to a pencil he inscribed the locations and prices the respective sellers wanted to receive, and when afternoon came about, Mathias took Fayrene to a restaurant to eat before resuming their search.
The restaurant was located in the Inner City, making it a first for Fayrene, similar to Mathias, yet he was giving off a confidence that didn't resemble someone who was visiting places for the first times. When inside, they were greeted by the warm temperature, good tasting music which resembled classical music to Mathias.
"Do you have an appointment reserved?" asked a butler who walked toward the couple.
"No, are there available tables for two?" responded Mathias, while asking the butler if they could dine.
"Gentleman, Lady, follow me."
The butler turned around and walked ahead inside the restaurant, while Mathias and Fayrene just followed around, until they arrived at the main room of the restaurant where one could have the impression it was full of guests.
"You two are really lucky since not too long ago, some guests left after finishing eating. The table is distanced from the stage, so my apologies if you wanted to be accompanied by some music."
"It is fine." responded Mathias calmly, not finding any problem with the server since he had no fault in the restaurant being full, and getting to his seat with Fayrene, pulling her chair first before settling down, he later watched on a stage that hosted some people playing instruments he wasn't familiar with, but sounding somehow decent.
"… Fay, the music here is rather unique."
"Yea, I know, I heard this once when I went to Grenhaler to visit my grandfather." Remarked Fayrene who told Mathias about her mother's family, the Arundells, and how they were treated in Grenhaler.
At the same time Mathias ordered for the two food from a menu, and at Fayrene's insistence opted for the cheapest serving, and yet still spending about 50 gold, making Fayrene want to pull Mathias hairs out for bringing her to such an expensive place.
"This place is too expensive. Hah, I want to barge inside the owner's office and take my money back."
"Now, now, this is a unique occasion, darling. This is our date. We should relax before we take it off and search again the city."
"Still, this is too expensive. The food is not something that you would spend so much on, and I really don't understand why those people come here to eat when you could make your own food for cheaper, much cheaper."
"Maybe those rich guys don't know how to cook, or are just too rich that they would rather go to restaurants?"
Talking with Fayrene while taking breaks to eat, he watched the stage where people were taking turns to play their respective instruments, after being introduced by one Clerk, and with their meal about to be over, just when they were about to get up and leave, a young man with long black hair cascading down, wearing some cheap clothes walked on the stage, not accompanied by the Clerk.
Everyone dining looked confused at who this young man could be, holding a wooden case in his hand, but they could understand, he was an outlander from how the air he was giving off, slightly nervous, slightly detached.
Mathias and Fayrene, especially the raven-haired girl saw the nameplate of the young man on the stage, and whispered Mathias.
@Fayrene: That's a player? Should we stay for more, I am curious what music your people would listen to.
@Mathias: Ohh, you don't want to leave now?
@Fayrene: If the music is bad, I might leave.
@Mathias: So many centuries of music and material, if that person messes up his chance to impress some rich guy, he is a fool.
@Fayrene: This means your guy's music is rich in history?
@Mathias: We have so many masterpieces, it is hard to pick which one is the best.
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Meanwhile on the stage, the young man whose nameplate was simply Johan was surrounded by emotions when he stepped forward on the stage, without even having the Clerk support in introducing himself, as if they wanted him to fail. Glancing at the public for a brief moment before withdrawing his stare from the public, his left hand trembled a bit.
'This is the first time I am playing the violin since that accident where I lost my left hand. I managed to craft the violin here, but I don't know how it will sound for real. If they would like music from outside.'
'I have to do this, I spend all my fortune for this chance to play here.'
'I should start with something to attract their attention and also something that fits this winter? What to play? Something a bit darker? Well, Schubert could do it without any lyrics those people shouldn't know about Erlking.'
Placing the case he was holding in his right hand, the later opened revealing a unique instrument for the public dining, and taking the violin in his hand in a graceful way, he introduced himself.
"Good afternoon or good evening since it should be night soon. My name is Johan and I hope that you take a liking to my music."
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"He is quite nervous right now, but he managed to do the first thing, and introduce himself to the public." mentioned Mathias, who ordered some wine spending 2 gold coins, while for Fayrene he bought some fruit juice.
When the butler returned with the wine, and fruit juice, the young man on the stage began playing on his violin making Mathias get shocked at what song this young man attempted at playing.
"Good one, man. Isn't this Schubert?"
The violin started in an alerted way, making Mathias smile in a knowing way, while his expression turned a bit colder, and accompanied by the violin reciting the first verses of the song, going with a lower tone, before going deeper, making Fayrene surprised at how dark the tone of the song was.
"Who's riding so late, in the night and wind?" "It is the father with his child." "He grasps the boy in his arm." "He holds him securely; he keeps him warm."
Fayrene who was listening to the song both from the vocalized song by Mathias, who wasn't lacking in voice, and the violin song, was shocked. Mathias continued on until he stopped abruptly at what could be said the half of the song.
" My son, why do you hide your face so fearfully? / "Father, don't you see the Erl-King there? The Erl-King with his crown and train?" My son, it's a streak of mist."
Then came a softer yet darker voice, giving Fayrene goosebumps, as if he was the sinister Elf King that was on to catch his prey.
"You delightful child, come with me! / I'll play wonderful games with you. / Colourful flowers grow on the shore.
Stopping there breaking from singing while his ruby eyes that gave off a dark-purple light, he noticed Fayrene giving him a look, as if she wanted him to continue on, but shrugging his shoulders, he mentioned.
"I forgot the rest of the poem. What? Can't someone sing along to a good poem? Turn your head and enjoy the violin. That song is damn hard to perform, he should be a master violinist."
"I never knew you have a talent for singing." remarked Fayrene in a serious way trying to recover from the poem, making Mathias just smile at her, returning his attention to the violist who from the first song captivated the entire public.
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On the stage, Johan was having a blast playing his violin that he almost forgot about the fact he was on the stage, his face gave off a wide pure smile, of excitement and joy, while his mind was full of thoughts.
'I can continue playing the violin here, grandfather. I don't have to abandon the violin anymore.'
Ending the song, only then did he look at his audience that began applauding him.
"Bravo, whoever you are, I want you to play that instrument for me privately."
Those types of arrogant comments, made Johan frown, nevertheless he appreciated the applause and bowed to the audience, before turning to step down, but the voice of a man stopped him.
"Where are you going? Continue playing, teach those frogs what the violin is about. What else do you know, Master Violinist?"
Hearing that comment, he turned quickly his head to scan his audience, but failed to notice someone out of ordinary, such as a player in this establishment, and no longer wanting to depart, he placed his violin back on his shoulder, starting to play his instrument.
'Whoever you are, thanks. Let me see if you know Sarasate.'
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Fayrene, who was beside Mathias when he opened his mouth to stop the young man, noticed Johan stare around the audience for whoever remarked that comment, and pinched his hand.
"Didn't you say you don't want to draw attention. What are you doing right now?"
"Allow a genius to rebirth. Now be quiet, he is about to play. Let me enjoy some good music since the rest of the music was simply trash."
Once Johan played, Fayrene was assaulted by another goosebump inducing sounds, making her grab onto Mathias hands, whose smile while drinking wine was of deep satisfaction.
"Sarasate. Hah, this guy is cultured. What's next, Paganini?"
"Why do you know what he plays?" inquired Fayrene shocked that Mathias had an idea of what the violin songs Johan was playing.
"Why do you ask? Because I love classical music, that's why."