Pillar of Yita

Fang Hong carefully shook hands with the other person and could not help but feel slightly anxious. A fourth-level craftsman is a Great Alchemist, just one step away from becoming an Artisan Master—a living legend. This Old Dwarf might be the first high-caliber native he had ever met in this world—of course, not counting those he had only briefly seen from a distance.

Like Princess Briana.

But before he could even start feeling admiration, a white-bearded Dwarf came up and squeezed in, pushing the vice-chairman of the Elpaxin Artisan Association aside so that he staggered. ”Don’t listen to this old kid’s wild boasts, little guy, quickly tell us what this so-called new design model of yours is all about!”

”Damn it, what did you say!” Aquitez, his beard quivering with rage, rushed up and grappled with the white-bearded Dwarf.

The other Dwarves showed no interest in the Crystal Framework and all ran over to meddle with the projector; no one bothered about the two old Dwarfs tangled up together. Fang Hong hurriedly separated them, his face streaming with cold sweat.

”It wasn’t my invention, Mr. Aquitez,” he replied truthfully.

A gleam appeared in Aquitez’s eyes, ”Ancient technology?”

Fang Hong nodded.

”Then you’re really in luck!” Aquitez exclaimed loudly.

Alchemy thrived towards the end of the Numelin Elves Empire era, producing many genius Alchemists including Alchemy Master Ade, and many design ideas that continue to influence today to this day—although, in the process of the fall of Aithelin, with the departure of the Numelin Elves, much of these ancient Alchemy heritages were inevitably lost.

These technologies are still being discovered today, some of which are relatively outdated, but some are so astounding that even the Alchemists of this era marvel at them.

Just finding the legacy of the Numelin Empire is no easy task, let alone obtaining the useful part of it; that’s why Aquitez said Fang Hong was lucky.

But the white-bearded Dwarf was not concerned about this. Being pressed to the ground by Aquitez, he gasped and said, ”Wait a minute, wait a minute, what are you playing at? Can you first explain to me what’s going on?”

Fang Hong nodded, considering it a legacy of Hain Famm, he didn’t think he had any right to keep it to himself. Besides, the technology wasn’t that impressive; it was merely the simplest part of a Type-One Crystal design.

He recounted his thought process for repairing the projector, which made both old Dwarfs’ eyes sparkle. ”Genius thinking!” Aquitez clapped his thigh and exclaimed, ”No wonder I couldn’t fix this thing. This way, we can bypass that superfluous component—wait a second!”

The Old Dwarf suddenly shouted, startling them both.

Aquitez, oblivious, loudly continued, ”Old pal, doesn’t this make your design viable?”

The white-bearded Dwarf also widened his eyes. ”Rotas above,” he exclaimed, his face reddening, ”You’re right, Aquitez, my Combat Fairy is saved!”

While Fang Hong was still curious about what a Combat Fairy was, he saw Aquitez yank the white-bearded Dwarf up from the ground and say, ”This is Merrifin, Merrifin Steelbrow, my closest friend, the vice-chairman of the Construct Department.”

Fang Hong looked at Merrifin in surprise; the Construct Department was the domain of Combat Artisans. Speaking of which, he only had some understanding of the Crystal Framework through Hain Famm’s manuscripts, but in reality, his true profession was that of a Combat Artisan.

Then Aquitez turned back and yelled at his friend, ”Merrifin, why aren’t you hurrying to get your blueprints out?”

”Wait a minute, wait a minute,” although excited, Merrifin was much calmer than Aquitez. He got up and straightened his long white beard. ”Now’s not the time for that. Before worrying about my Combat Fairy, let me first ask, young man, have you applied for registration yet?”

”What registration?”

”To apply for a patent, wasn’t this invented by you guys?”

”Rotas above, have you lost it?” Aquitez shot back harshly, ”He just said he’s only an Apprentice Alchemist, how could he possibly apply for any damn patent?”

”Wait!” He suddenly shouted again, as thunderous as before.

Fang Hong had almost gotten used to Aquitez’s surprises but was still startled by the Old Dwarf’s shout. The Dwarf glared at Fang Hong. ”You said you haven’t registered? No, no, this won’t do, it’s absurd, how could you so casually disclose a technology that hasn’t been patented yet?”

He quickly covered his friend’s mouth, ”Merrifin, keep it a secret!”

The white-bearded Dwarf, infuriated, slapped away his hand, ”Shut your mouth, Aquitez, of course I know. But right now, our priority is to get this young man officially recognized as a craftsman and then proceed with the patent registration!”

”You’re absolutely right,” Aquitez clapped his hand loudly in agreement, ”That’s what we’ll do!” Then, turning around, he shouted, ”Guys, guys, where are you, what are you doing?”

Meanwhile, the other Dwarfs had gathered around the projector, their emotions stirred, debating vociferously:

”How could this be?”

”Rotas above, does Elpaxin stand no chance at all?”

”These damnable Ancient Tower people!”