Chapter 281: Take It Back and Sew Slowly
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The first step in treating wolfskin is to cut it into set shapes. It was not a difficult chore as rough handiwork was not an issue. Maneuvering his ice scissors, Benjamin did not take long to finish cutting up the wolfskin.
The next step is to make a special mixture of dye. Thus, Benjamin crafted another basin-and-pestle combination out of ice and poured a few ingredients into them. Then, he began to grind them up. The production of dye still require a short incantation from a mage to attract some Wind Element into it. Unfortunately, due to his constitution, Benjamin could never get the Wind Elements even if he chanted the spell for a thousand times. Hence, he could only delegate this step of the process to the boss lady.
Indeed, the movements of the boss lady exudes practice and efficiency. She had already finished her work with the yarn. With Benjamin’s reminder, she held the ice basin and chanted the spell to gather the Wind Elements and scatter them into the liquid within the basin, much like a chef sprinkling salt into a potful of vegetables.
In an instant, the liquid within the basin started to boil and roll. Then, the dark scarlet liquid suddenly turned into a pure silver, and it was so shiny that the basin looked like it was filled with silver water that was vibrating slightly.
When Benjamin saw this, he immediately soaked the cut wolfskin into the liquid.
According to the instructions on the fabrication drawings, the treatment of the wolfskin will only be complete after it was soaked for half an hour. For efficiency’s sake, Benjamin had no choice but to place this basin aside before he turned around and start working on the other materials.
At this step, even the System could not help itself as it sighed, "Mother of God, why is this cape such a fuss to make?"
As if Benjamin had a choice. The Hurricane Cape was already one of the simpler ones among the magical instruments he picked from the handful of fabrication drawings. He felt dizzy after just reading the production procedures for the rest of the instruments; making them would be off the table for now.
However, there was only one material left to deal with after their continuous effort.
The feathers of the Dark Ravens. They needed to be trimmed from its natural oval shape to a fixed rectangle before each individual feather was enchanted with Wind Elements to ensure their magical properties.
This is indeed a painstakingly detailed job. With a total of 80 feathers to tend to, and they divided the workload among themselves to work together. Benjamin will be trimming them with his ice scissors, and the trimmed feathers will then go to the boss lady to be enchanted with Wind Elements. This production line method did cause a spike in efficiency, but the process in tending the feathers still took more than an hour of their time.
"I can’t do this now. My spiritual energy can no longer sustain this. I need some rest." The boss lady shook her head as she placed the feather in her hand down onto the table. Benjamin’s vision also blurred over after an hour of trimming feathers. He nodded in agreement, and both of them took a breather.
After a short break, they turned to look at the ice basin that the wolfskin was soaked in. The silver liquid that was originally in the basin disappeared, and all was left was the cut of wolfskin. Not only that, its appearance changed too - it shone a shade of brilliant silver, as if it absorbed all of the aforementioned liquid. It was breathtaking.
Furthermore, the wolfskin already attracted quite a number of Wind Elements. They surrounded and floated excitedly around it like tiny, happy elves.
At this sight, Benjamin could not help himself but to take the wolfskin and caress it repeatedly as if he was petting a cat. He savoured the soft texture of the wolfskin, and for a moment he thought he was petting an actual wolf.
Ah, how comfortable...
Benjamin returned the wolfskin to the boss lady after another round of petting. In contrast, the boss lady behaved differently from Benjamin; her stance was professional as she tugged and pulled at the cloth. Sporadically, she even nodded impassively, as if she was judging a cloth.
"Hm, the softness is excellent, and it is pleasant to touch. However, it was also extremely durable and breathable. If this was used to make clothings...."
Benjamin wiped off some sweat. This magical material that they poured so much effort into getting can never be taken away by someone else to make into clothes. No. The boss lady understood this without needing his reminder. After some exclamations pertaining to her career as a tailor, she took the ice needle and the thread she made earlier to prepare for the next procedure.
At this, Benjamin became alert and ready.
This step is the most crucial one in the production of the Hurricane Cape - they were required to follow certain steps, sew the thread onto the wolfskin to make an intricate design, cross-stitch style.
Originally, Benjamin planned to take over this job by himself. However, his eyes were blurry after trimming so many feathers, and the lady boss was indeed full of experience in this area. She offered her service, and her words were ‘I’ve sewn more things than the roads you’ve walked’. Benjamin decided to just hand the job over to the expert.
The lady boss sat on a chair, the wolfskin and fabrication drawings draped on her lap, needle in her right hand while her left guided the thread as she sew it, one needle at a time. Her movements were precise from the start, and her whole being exudes professionalism.
Benjamin was initially very worried that she might make a mistake since the design was incredibly complicated, but he relaxed after a short period of observation; there was no way that she would trip over something like this. Honestly, if this was not her first time sewing this, Benjamin would expect the boss lady to be just like the knitting elderlies, who knit while they talked, their hands never stopping while they chatted away.
Passing this job to her was such an efficient business decision!
At this point, Benjamin realised how great a thing it was that over half of the mages in the group had their own occupation before their lives as mages. Each and every one of them had maintain years of skills and expertise. Their group now possess a variety of skills, which was a huge advantage to them.
Based on the fabrication drawings, it would normally take up to a week to sew the design, much alike to knitting. However, judging from the boss lady’s expert handiwork, she could probably finish this in 3 to 4 days, tops?
In this process, a mage was required to chant a spell to add Wind Elements to it whenever a part of the design was completed. A total of 80 incantations will be needed for the design to be complete. After the design was done, they would place the trimmed feathers at the predetermined place for the Cape to finally be done.
The arduousness of the whole process was evident, and the mage poured blood, sweat, and tears into making the Cape. As Benjamin went through the procedures, he gradually understood why the producing of magical instruments did not catch up throughout the years. It was not only due to the church, per se; the production was too perplexingly difficult. As mages, everyone took much care of their own status that no one was willing to spend such a long time and effort sitting and sewing clothes.
Both of the economic factors and the troublesome production caused potions to overtake the status of magical instruments. Potions were quick to make, suitable to be used by a wide range of consumers, and people would return for another purchase after the potions were used. Magical instruments, on the other hand, might not have as good of an effect like potions, and they could be used continuously for a very long time that the sellers could not have a sustainable income. That was why they were not favourable among most mages.
Of course, as magical instruments were almost extinct in the market nowadays, a Cape like this would cause a monopoly, and thus could be sold at an incredibly favourable price. The Mages Freemasonry’s efforts in preserving books were not enough in this aspect; they only managed to protect the Forbidden Spells that were worth researching. They had none of the production procedures for magical instruments. No one knew what they were thinking.
"This cape will need a long time to sew. It’s better if you pass everything to me, so I could slowly sew it at home. I’ll inform you once the cape is done?" The boss lady asked as she rubbed her eyes as she finally raised her head after an hour.
Benjamin was nodding off. He jumped awake at her question, then nodded immediately. SHe then picked everything up and prepared to return to her quarters. Benjamin thought for a moment before passing another two books to her.
"Here, these two books are all about things like this. Capes aside, they also have drawings for clothes and robes. Take it and read it if you can," Benjamin said, "Will it be a bother if I hand this over to you? Will this interrupt your cultivation progress?"
The boss lady barked out a laugh as she waved, "Of course not! I’m not familiar with this now, but once I grew familiar with making it, the process would be much faster. Still, you would need to hire me some helpers. Not mages, mind you, just basic tailors would do; I just need them to help me in minor things, else it would indeed be a painstaking job.
Benjamin laughed as he nodded. He would need to hand the making of magical instruments to someone else anyways. This was the boss lady’s profession, hence he had no need to worry about this anymore. He would also find a way to hire the tailors that she require, but he would need to think of a way to ensure that the hired hands would keep the fabrication drawings a secret from the outside world.
All in all, the prototypes of a Potions Workshop and a Magical Textile Factory are gradually setting into this house of theirs.