CH368 Machine Forgesmith

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The third thing Grandmaster cherish over ale, along with his wife and his craft, was his son.

"Can I ask why?" Alex asked skeptically. "With both your influences, any large organisation would open their doors to him and take care of him. At the very least, they'd offer him a growth environment far better than what I can provide."

"That would be true… if our boy were typical," Kaylyn said softly.

"Our boy is a genius," Grandmaster Ironhost added proudly.

"At a young age, he devoured our lessons on Forgesmithing and Alchemy, and he even went further to take up Runesmithing. He was on the path to becoming a Magic Armour Designer. His expertise in the three major crafts would have easily positioned him as a remarkable designer," Kaylyn explained.

"'Would have'?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

Kaylyn sighed, her expression tinged with melancholy. "The world had other plans. He couldn't awaken the talent required to become a Magic Armour Designer."

"Awaken talent? What does that mean?" Alex asked, confused.

"You didn't know, Alex? Magic Armour uses a different crafting methodology than typical craftsmanship. True Magic Armour Designers understand it best, but in general, not everyone has the affinity for the method. Only those with it can truly become Magic Armour designers," Grandmaster Ironhost revealed.

"How is this affinity determined? Innate talent, knowledge, or something else?" Alex asked.

"Unclear. It's a closely guarded secret of the Magic Armour Association," Ironhost replied, shaking his head.

"I see," Alex muttered. Then he asked, "And how is your son now?"

"Although we mistakenly made him fixated on becoming a Magic Armour Designer, seeing his talent—which made the rejection even harder—Sugud didn't lose himself," Kaylyn said, a proud smile tugging at her lips, though it still carried a hint of melancholy.

"He discovered a new path for himself," she added.

"We don't fully understand it ourselves, so rather than try to explain it poorly, how about we show you—and let the creator himself explain?" Ironhost suggested.

"Alright," Alex nodded.

The couple led Alex out of the house to a smaller smithy behind the main building.

In terms of size and appearance, this backsmithy was a stark contrast to the grand front workshop. Yet, the care and attention with which Ironhost and Kaylyn opened its doors made it clear how much they valued this place.

Walking into the smithy, the first thing Alex noticed was that it wasn't as hot as he had expected. The second was that the interior looked nothing like a typical smithy.

'It's like I've been transported from an arcane fantasy setting into a steampunk or sci-fi world,' Alex thought to himself.

Scattered all around, in a kind of chaotic order, were mechanical parts of various shapes and sizes.

At the far end of the room, a youth was deeply engrossed in tinkering with what appeared to be a mechanical spider. He didn't even notice his parents and Alex entering.

This youth was none other than Sugud Ironhost, the couple's son.

Grandmaster Sinla Ironhost seemed about to call out to his son, but Alex stopped him. Instead, he waited silently, observing.

Alex realised immediately what was happening.

Much like himself, who had blended computer engineering with Runes to create something unique, Sugud was combining mechanical engineering with forgesmithing to create something almost unheard of in this world.

Robotics.

Thanks to Merlin's extensive curriculum back when he was still studying at the Enclave, Alex came to realise that –despite being a world of magic and swords'— Pangea had a strong understanding of physical laws.

Names and terminology might differ, but many scientific laws from his previous life applied here, either exactly or very similarly.

In that case, Pangea could very easily have developed along the same technological path as his old world. Magic had merely made this unnecessary.

Alex hypothesized: if a magical solution wasn't available, predominant and ubiquitous, the people of Pangea could very easily have turned to similar scientific methods from his previous life.

The scene before him seemed to confirm his theory.

Alex wasn't a mechanical engineer, but he had worked closely with them in his previous life—enough to understand the basic engineering principles most mechanical engineers used intuitively.

From what he could see, many of these basic methods were absent in Sugud's world, replaced by techniques derived from local forgesmithing practices. This confirmed one thing: Sugud was not a reincarnator or transmigrator like Alex.

Sugud had clearly reached this point through pure genius, leveraging his knowledge across multiple disciplines.

He put the finishing touches on his mechanical construct, then carefully inserted a small shard of a mana stone—likely from a low-grade mana stone, judging from its faint glow.

Almost immediately, the palm-sized mechanical spider twitched, then scuttled a few feet across the table before coming to a stop.

"It worked!" Sugud cheered.

Alex had thought it a pity at the seeming failure, but he was surprised to see Sugud celebrate while his parents looked on as if they might shed tears of joy.

It dawned on Alex: he had actually witnessed the first successful trial of Sugud's unique craft.

Sugud picked up the spider, spinning around in celebration. Only then did he notice the three people standing behind him.

"Ah!"

Startled, he accidentally flung the spider across the room. It crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces.

Alex walked over, picking up the broken shards.

"You'll need to improve its durability if it's going to be useful," he said, handing the pieces back to Sugud.

Sugud snatched them and retreated to a corner, flustered.

"Are you here to make fun of me too? Go away!"

The youth's strong reaction caught Alex off guard. Kaylyn stepped forward to console him while Grandmaster Ironhost explained.

"After failing to awaken as a Magic Armour Designer, Sugud somehow found this new path. Excited, he joined an exhibition where young Forgesmiths from the Enclave displayed their creations to peers and seniors alike.

"No one understood his work or its utility, so he was ridiculed and bullied. Our praises only made it worse in his eyes—he thought we only said it because we were his parents."

Alex nodded, understanding. "Let me guess… since I also walk a unique path with Runesmithing, you're hoping I might reach him better as a peer?"

"Yes, Young Master Alex. I beg this of you. Just a few words, even if you don't mean them," Grandmaster Ironhost said, almost bowing.

**(18/70)**

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