Samuel seemed a bit dazed, not yet fully comprehending the situation.
Being saved suddenly didn’t seem overly surprising. He felt that compared to Amalia’s sudden transformation into a "Super Saiyan," there was no sense of surprise at all.
What truly astonished him was when he discovered that the seemingly delicate and beautiful genius artiticer was, in fact, a spirit cultivator with skills surpassing his own. It shattered his worldview.
Noticing his dumbfounded expression, Amalia thought Sandro might have done something to affect his senses, and a worried look flashed across her face. This was something she couldn’t heal.
Perhaps her expression was too obvious. Samuel’s mouth twitched. "I’m fine."
Seeing him regain focus, Amalia relaxed. "Good to hear. Was this person sent by Yannis to steal the artifact?"
"His name is Sandro, one of Yannis’s trusted subordinates. How did you know he was going to ambush me? If it weren’t for you, I might have lost my life here," Samuel said, there’s a faint smile on his face, but his body still shaken a lot.
That surge of unwillingness that had suddenly arisen hadn’t dissipated; he wanted to become stronger too.
"It occurred to me suddenly. Yannis wouldn’t easily forget that you intercepting his plan," Amalia explained briefly.
Ashamed, Samuel admitted, "It was my negligence. I forgot about that."
"No one is perfect. It’s good you’re safe," Amalia patted his shoulder.
"In order to prevent Yannis from sending more people, I’ll accompany you. Plus, we can discuss about the artifact."
"That would be great," Samuel sighed in relief.
"But my car is damaged, and I’m afraid..."
"Ride in my car," Kenny Lin interjected.
Samuel had noticed him earlier but still looked to Amalia for confirmation.
"No, we’ll take the bus," Amalia declined.
She didn’t want to trouble him further; she didn’t like being indebted to others, once was enough.
Surprisingly, Kenny Lin didn’t linger.
Samuel was a bit surprised, but Amalia wasn’t. She had noticed earlier that despite Kenny Lin’s thick-skinned nature, he wasn’t the type to persistently entangle himself. That suited her fine; she didn’t appreciate others intruding into her life.
After bidding farewell to Kenny Lin, Amalia and Samuel hurried to Tierra Viva, where they were greeted by Mikel, who had received news and was waiting for them in the villa.
At first upon hearing Samuel claim that the artifact had been repaired, Mikel wasn’t entirely convinced. Master Juan was an example; besides, it had only taken a day and a half. But, his intuition told him this might be genuine, and that assurance came when he saw the artifact Samuel brought out.
In reality, Samuel had two storage spaces on him. One was a storage necklace, which is merely a decoy. The real storage space was in his belt.
"Well done, remarkably skilled to restore even a previously repaired artifact to its original state," Mikel marveled with Amalia skill. This person was even more appealing in person than on a holographic screen. Although she exuded a cold aura, she also offered a sense of security.
However, her age was a drawback, which could breed mistrust on people, considering that experience mattered significantly in the world of artificer.
Mikel who having seen various young and talented artiticers, had a more accepting view of them. He was no longer skeptical of Amalia’s talents and even felt inclined to form a connection with her.
"Young Master Sabate is too kind," Amalia responded calmly, not overly humble.
"You don’t need to be modest. Among the artiticers I’ve encountered, you’re at least among the top three in talent. May I know who your mentor is?" Mikel asked, his gaze fixed on Amalia.
Hubert could immediately tell that Mikel was trying to win over Amalia.
Initially she wanted to say that she didn’t have any mentor, but Amalia suddenly remembered that most of her refining techniques came from a certain book in the Soltice Ring.
One of the book she admired was written by the hermit called Yi Xiulan. Since most of her refining methods and experiences were learned from his book, she could consider herself mentored by Yi Xiulan.
"My master prefers a quiet life and has requested that I refrain from mentioning his name publicly. I hope you understand," Amalia replied.
Not prying further, Mikel wasn’t disappointed. He could speculate that her master might be a reclusive experts. Once he goes back to the capital, he planned to have his family look into who the reclusive experts is to get some clues.
...
Samuel was initially concerned that Mikel might be upset by Amalia’s refusal, but fortunately, he had overthought. Although Mikel had a domineering personality, he wasn’t an unreasonable rich kid.
Considering that Amalia had already showcased her abilities, Mikel’s doubts about her had diminished significantly. Now, he at least believed she had the capability to repair his artifact.
"I was worried about not finding a skilled artificer to mend this artifact and considered leaving it as it is. But since Ms. Vanquez has the ability, I’ll fulfill my promise and let you repair this artifact," Mikel said, while retrieving an artifact that it said to be given to him by an important elder from his storage item.
After receiving it, Amalia found the artifact to be a rather ordinary attack-type artifact. Although it was an advanced level artifact, it’s internal structure was less complex than the formation-type artifact, making it at least a level lower in difficulty. In this way, many artificers could potentially repair it, the same goes to the eliminated Master Juan.
"Mikel treasures this artifact very much, it was a gift from a respected elder. Unfortunately, later he accidentally damaged it. He didn’t want the elder to find out. Hence, he sought an artificer from outside the capital to repair it, But he was worried that the artificer from outside might lack the ability to restore it. So, he use the formation-type artifact as a test. If an artificer can repair the formation-type artifact, they can surely mend this one too," Hubert explained on behalf of Mikel, wearing a proud expression, as it was his idea.
Mikel vigorously nodded, signifying his approval of Hubert’s explanation.
Samuel was momentarily at a loss for words; he didn’t quite grasp the situation.
Amalia observed the partly damaged artifact and spoke earnestly, "I understand. Restoring this won’t be difficult, but advanced grade materials are hard to come by. I’ll need a bit..."