After the fire is completely extinguished, some people nearby want to reprimand the person with strange machinery in his back. But, noticing at the gloomy and devastation look he got, everyone reluctantly left him be.
The fire did not damage any of the nearby houses and only burned everything inside the house.
Seeing the devastation, look at the man's expression, "Are you alright?" asked Millie.
Before the man could answer, "Millie, how many times have I told you not to talk to strangers?" said Mia.
"B-But, Mia.. he seems to need some help." replied Millie.
"Err.. N-No, it's alright. You don't need to worry about me." replied the man.
"You sure?" asked Millie again.
In the meantime, Angus couldn't help but look at the leftover burned house. Using his passive [Analyze], he finds few traces of the fire source.
'T-This is.. the fire is not accidental nor is it from the machinery. It seems someone started the fire intentionally.' thought Angus before looking at the person with machinery on his back.
"Angus??" called Jayna, who seemed to have noticed something inside the burned house.
As a fire expert, she could feel a trace of fire mana from the house.
"Yeah, the fire was not accidental." said Angus in a low voice.
Hearing this, Jayna could only nod silently. She knows this is not something they should meddle with. Then, Angus and Jayna approach the man with machinery on his back. They stop Anna, who wants to touch the machinery on the man's back.
"Anna, don't be naughty." reprimand Jayna.
"B-But.." said Anna while pouting.
Seeing this, Millie and Mia couldn't help wanting to hug the adorable pouting Anna. At the same time, the man couldn't help but sigh at everyone's interaction.
Angus approached the man silently, "You do know that it is not accidental fire, right?" asked Angus.
The man couldn't help but be startled after hearing Angus's sentence.
"Yeah, I know. But, what else can I do? I am just a pitiful, weak, and poor merchant. Anyway, thanks for your help in extinguishing the fire before." replied the man.
Observing the man carefully, Angus finds that the man is actually only a first-grade combatant, which is quite unusual for people inside Porros. Usually, people at the age of the man are at least third-grade combatant or reaching high grade.
Lower grades like the man will have difficulty surviving, especially with the high living cost inside the Porros. Since Porros is surrounded with many high grade beast and monster territory, only a high grade combatant could hunt them safely.
Therefore, people with lower grades like the man in front of Angus could only make a living by trading or doing something else like battling in the arena. However, Angus also finds the man in front of him is also not a fighter.
It is already a miracle for the man to stay inside the Porros all this time. Although Angus was intrigued with the man in front of him, he didn't pry too much since it is not his business.
After the man politely refuses Millie's offer for help once again, they decide to leave the area. During this time, Angus finds Gilford approaching them.
"Cousin Gil, it is rare to find you not in the public library." called Angus.
"Ohh Angus, today's weather is too good to just coop inside the library. Anyway, what happened here?" replied Gilford.
Before Angus could reply, "Ahh master Gilford, I-I am sorry. It seems I can't fulfill your request. I will try to reimburse your down payment." said the man with machinery on his back.
"Ehhh… What happened, Vigo? I really look forward to it." replied Gilford.
"Emm… There was some unforeseen accident. I am really sorry." said Vigo while bowing his head.
"Accident, huh?" replied Gilford as he looked at the leftover burned house in the back.
Like Angus, Gilford also could find some oddity in the house using his passive [Analyze]. Seeing this, Gilford looks at Angus like confirming something. Angus didn't say anything, only replied with a nod.
"Hmm… this is getting complicated." said Gilford but seemed to think about something.
After a while, "Alright, I have decided. Why don't you come with me and work for me?" asked Gilford out of nowhere.
Angus and Vigo couldn't help but also be surprised by Gilford's offer.
Noticing Angus look, "Hahaha.. Cousin, this guy's talent will be wasted just to be buried here, especially in terms of Magical Engineering." said Gilford.
Hearing Gilford's high evaluation, Angus couldn't help but look at Vigo. He knows that as the heir of the ancient king of knowledge, Gilford has a high standard when he evaluates someone especially with something related to Magical Engineering.
Therefore, Angus was quite surprised at Gilford's offer. All this time, the only person who he ever praises in Magical Engineer is only Angus. Even the best crafter in the Sur village couldn't reach Gilford's standard.
Yet, he still says Vigo has talent in Magical Engineering. This shows that Vigo is genuinely talented in Magical Engineering.
"So, How is it, Vigo?" asked Gilford again.
"I-I am sorry, master Gilford. I really want to accept the offer. However, currently, I can't just leave Porros." said Vigo.
"Yeah, I can't give you the details. But I can't leave Porros yet. I am sorry. I will give you back the down payment as soon as possible." said Vigo.
Hearing Vigo's adamant reply, Gilford couldn't help but release a long sigh.
"Well, if you said so, I can't say anything else. But, if you change your mind, please contact me. I will be here for a month time." said Gilford.
After ending the conversation with Vigo, Angus introduces Gilford to Millie and Mia. Millie and Mia couldn't help but be surprised to find Gilford's identity.
They couldn't help but respect uncle Jade, who could survive in this land for more than a hundred years and just reach seventh grade. After some greetings, they decide to go back to the inn while chatting further.
On the way, "Gil, I am still curious why you want to recruit Vigo?" asked Angus.
"Hahaha… If you know the product he made, you will also want to recruit him. Yeah, Why don't I show you some of his products?" replied Gilford while going towards the inn backyard.
The Sparkling Bell tavern where they stayed has a pretty big backyard for the guest to train or for some occasion. By some coincidence, the backyard is also empty for their use. Arriving in the backyard, Gilford takes a metal ball from his space storage and throws it on the ground.
*Clang* *Clang* A battle golem formed from the metal ball. Then, Gilford touches and tinkers the golem and takes its core. As soon as he takes the core, the golem loses all his power and deactivates. Then, Gilford takes a small bluish globe from his space storage.
"Angus, this is one of Vigo's products." said Gilford as he threw the small bluish globe to Angus.
"This a synthesized mana core? No.. What is this?" asked Angus as his passive [Analyze] work.
Since ancient times, the battle golem and other artificial magical engineering products have had a critical weakness. It is the power source. In ancient times, they used cores as the power source.
After countless research, they used a synthesized core that lasts longer than cores. However, this is also not a sustainable solution since the synthesized core needs to be regularly replaced and maintained.
Battle Golem, Colossus, and other Magical Engineer products may be great and sophisticated combat items. But, they are also eating a lot of resources. It could be said that fighting using these types of machinery is like fighting using money.
The tiny bluish globe at Angus's hand is actually a sustainable power source that could supply a Battle Golem. Actually, there is already a lot of research about sustainable power sources like this, mainly done by the gremlin race.
However, all the found sustainable power sources have several issues. First is the base material to contain the energy. Without a strong base, it couldn't contain enormous energy. The next problem is the supply energy rate and how much it could recover.
These two problems correlated one with the other. Battle golem needs a tremendous amount of energy to work, which means it requires a huge energy supply. Therefore, it needs ample storage or a vast energy recovery rate.
Up to now, there are no items that could produce enormous energy with the same consumption for Battle Golem. Therefore, the core material needs to contain vast amounts of energy, increasing the difficulty of making and the production cost.
However, all these major issues are solved by the small bluish core in Angus's hand. The core has an unbelievable energy recovery rate that could supply two or three battle golem without a problem. This kind of ridiculous energy recovery rate is very magical and absurd.
By having this kind of recovery rate, the core didn't need to use a rare or strong material to contain the energy which lowered the production cost yet it could still supply enough power.
For Gilford, who dabbles in Magical Engineering, this kind of core is a revolutionary product. Yet, it is made by a person who everyone in the Porros ostracizes.