Golden Artificer c5 (Patreon)

“Don’t just stand there. Follow me.” Marcus sighed as he motioned for her to follow him.

Alfia didn’t know if she should be pissed or something, as it had been a very long time since someone treated her like this.

Hell, her whole life, she has been treated as the greatest talent in her Familia, if not in the whole of Orario. But in front of him? He called her weak… No one called her weak. No one!

Instead of saying anything, she followed the kid, who was not a kid but some sort of monster reborn.

“...What happened to Zaild?” She asked him.

“The armoured guy?”

“Yes.”

“Well, if his armour has some special properties, he should survive, as I launched him outside the city.” 

She slightly paled when she heard that. That casual slap was enough to send a level 7 out of the city!?

‘J-Just, who is this kid!?’

“I-I see…” 

For a second, she wanted to just dash away and run… but her legs were not listening to her. 

‘I haven’t felt fear in a while.’

She realised that what she was feeling was fear.

Regardless, for now, she brushed Zald’s situation to the side as she looked at his home.

Her eyes widened as she realised that the house was in quite pristine condition. The insides were lit up and it was extremely clean. Not only that, but she saw that he had several things she had not seen before.

It looked like something should be powered by magic stones…But she can’t see magic stones at all.

As she looked around, her gaze eventually ended up on him, who was drawing something already.

‘Not only a magician, fighter, builder but a blacksmith as well…’

“Since she said it's inborn, that means it's genetics. For that, I will need—”

He mumbled an array of unknown words as she saw him draw a circle and start placing a bunch of unknown letters. She had no idea what they did.

But what she understood is that these letters were similar to the ones used by God to place Falnas.

“...Got it!”

Marcus stood up as she grabbed her hand and proceeded to pull her to his basement.

Alfia’s eyebrows twitched, but she controlled her anger. She followed where he was leading her.

Sure enough, her eyes perked as she saw that this was the ritual which kept the barrier.

They passed it and went to another room.

“Watch how I fix you, girl.”

He let her go as he pulled a charcoal and started to draw on the strange floor surface.

“...It’s Alfia, my name is Alfia.” She finally introduced herself.

“Hmm, well, Alfia, I am Marcus Goldman. I was a Grand Sorcerer in my world and a Master Alchemist. The first one to discover eternal life.” He said to her without even looking.

“To achieve eternal life, one needs to understand the body to the point that you can alter it.” He said as he masterfully drew a perfect circle before starting to lay down unknown letters.

“...Then what are you doing here?” She was confused. If he was eternal, why was he a kid?

“Because when I was exploring the stars, an enormous star reached the end of its life and exploded. I was close to that place, so I died.” He sighed while saying that.

“I can only assume that my soul was supercharged, and it ended up in some space phenomenon, and I got shoved into this child’s body.” He sighed again.

“Though I doubt it. There was maybe some god machination involved.” He shrugged before returning to his work.

All Alfia could do was simply stare at him in disbelief.

She didn’t understand half of what he said, but it sounded like he was living in a completely different world—not just in the normal sense but also in the power sense.

‘To have the ability to travel through stars… what kind of power is that?’

Regardless, she felt quite humbled by him as she watched him work. She doubts he cares about her circumstances. Though she is a little bit…afraid of what he could do to her.

Around an hour later, he was done.

To top it up, he started to pour mana into the circle, which lit up soon after.

“This is a Full Restoration circle. Whatever issues you might have will fix upon you stepping into the circle.”

“...What?”

Her eyes trembled when she heard that! If only something like this was available to her just a few years ago!

“The concept is quite simple as one needs to grasp the fundamental body. Once you know those you can easily rebuild a healthy body. Humans are built from many pieces. If you know those pieces all you need is simply remove the pieces which are weakening you.”

As he said, he walked into the circle. She watched how he started to glow, and… his skin started to come off… there was a new one behind it…

‘T-This is the power of Grand Sorcerer…’

Gulp

As he was standing there, she saw him become much healthier.

After finishing his session, he walked off the circle and motioned for her.

“Now go, Alfia. My maid is supposed to be healthy as her Master.”

The girl nodded and walked into the circle. She felt that something was being removed from her. It was like a rope, which was slowly choking her, was removed.

Little by little, she smiled as the feeling of a healthy body was something she never felt before. But, now…

But then her smile was gone as she frowned.

After the session was over, she walked off the circle.

“What now?” He saw her frown.

“...Nothing…”

“...”

He stared at her, and she didn’t say anything.

But then she realised that he wouldn’t stop until she told him. She had this nagging feeling that this guy had more patience than she did.

“I had a twin sister; she had the same disease as me, but unlike me, she had no talent. People said that I took all of her talent, and I tend to believe that, as I had all the talent and survived to this day.”

She didn’t go into all the details, but Marcus looked at her as if she were stone next to a road.

“So not only you are weak but stupid too.” He sighed while saying that.

“...ugh…”

Alfia was about to lash out, but she controlled herself. She didn’t want to kiss gravel.

“Listen, Alfia. Let me explain how children are created, as you clearly have no idea.” He said in a matter-of-fact voice.

“I-I already know the basics!” She blushed in embarrassment as she looked away.

“No, you don’t since you are telling me gibberish only a caveman would believe.” He raised his finger.

“You see. It's a lottery more than anything. When a person releases his stuff into a girl, that stuff has to impregnate an egg inside a woman’s womb.

Now, a woman’s egg or man’s essence can be damaged in the process. This means that the child can end up with an inborn disease or be weak in nature. That means your impact on all of this is zero.” He said sharply.

“So stop telling me something which makes no sense.” He said with an annoyed eye roll.

“,,,Fine.” She sighed before looking away. 

“Good girl.”

Once again, he took her hand and pulled her back to the ground floor.

~~~

**SWISHHH**

**BOOM!!!**

A black blur flew out of the city walls as someone slammed into the ground. Creating a huge dust cloud.

After a while, there was no movement as someone started to rise from the crater.

It was the same armoured man by the name of Zald.

“Ugh… damn… It hurt.”

He complained as he walked out from the crater.

For a second, he looked around, and he noticed that some of the guards were rushing towards him.

“Here we go again…” He sighed to himself. Now, he needs to explain himself.

~~~

Sure, she might have watched him work before, but this time around, she looked at his magic from much closer proximity.

What she noticed was that he did not have any sort of chanting. There is nothing! With no words, only hand motions, he can casually mould stone, mud, clay… everything.

But this was not all…He can easily make dirt become wood or stone become materials she had never seen before.

If she didn’t believe his words that he was a legendary and mythical alchemist who could make gold, now she does.

After spending a whole day working with minimal breaks, she realised that his work ethic was insane. Maybe even more insane than some of the people she used to know.

On top of that, he can cook. His cooking is not simple either. The guy is a master chef.

“It’s kinda weird. My maid should be cooking for me. Not the other way around.”

He said with a frown as he was cooking in the kitchen while the silver-haired girl was simply sitting at the desk.

“I could. But my cooking is not that great.” She slightly shrugged. Only recently, she started cooking. Since well her familia got destroyed, and the rest got disbanded.

“Hmm. I see. Well, then, I will teach you how to cook.” He said with a pondering look.

“This way, I save some time.”

Alfia didn’t say anything. She would normally complain, but with this guy… She doesn’t want to kiss the floor.

“If this is what you want.” 

“Of course. Since I have some time, I want you to tell me about these Familia things everyone is in.” Marcus decided to get some info as he finally had a person who could explain in detail.

“...You planning to join one?” She asked with a curious look.

“No, not at all. I already had one Goddess asking me to join. But it feels like undermining one's effort, as there is a God who is almost like watching you over,” he said with a pondering look.

Alfia’s eyes widened slightly. At that moment, she realised that this guy didn’t have Falna! To make sure, she decided to ask him!

“...Does that mean you don’t have a Falna!?” She asked with a slightly trembling voice.

“...No. I just said that I don’t like this whole thing.” He shrugged at her.

‘I got beaten by a guy who has no Falna!’ 

The silver-haired girl looked at the table in front of her. Her eyes were trembling from disbelief. Her world just got turned upside down.

“What? You look devastated. Is the tattoo on one's back so important to you?” Marcus looked somewhat amused by her reaction. He can see that she is in denial.

“Falna is what allows one to go beyond the limits of humans. Each level up brings one closer to a god.” She said with a sigh.

“Okay…” He pondered on that before explaining how he sees it.

“I see the benefits, but at the same time, I see downsides for this. From what I saw, you don’t have any sort of magic apart from what you got from that Falna.

I could teach you how to properly wield magic. How to augment yourself with Mana, wield elements and even prepare rituals.”

He explained to her as he finished cooking and brought over the food and placed it on the plates.

As she was thinking about his words, her eyes got distracted as she smelled the food.

‘It smells good… damn it…’

It has only been a few hours, but she is starting to feel inadequate. As someone who is being called an ‘Incarnation of Talent’, being around this guy makes her feel like just another regular person.

It makes her both relieved and annoyed.

“Eat, I don’t want you starve.” He said with a joking tone.

“...Fine…”

As she took a bite with a fork, her whole body froze for a second. Her eyes widened slightly before looking at him with a blush. 

“...It’s good.” 

She swiftly took a second bite, then a third. Her eating speed only got faster.

Marcus smiled, seeing that. 

‘And that’s how you tame them.’