Chapter 10：Searching for Golem Hearts

"Old Man Saldean?" Sean had spotted the tears running down Old Saldean eyes and called out to him.

Old Saldean quickly wiped away his tears, and he responded with a smile, "Come, Sean, I'll teach you…"

With that, a day had gone by in a blink of an eye.

The Harvest Golems were much easier to understand than what Sean had assumed.

'Frankly speaking, compared to what's found on Earth, the technology here is way worse. At best, their technology is around the level of the Second Industrial Revolution. However, due to the presence of magic, even simple machines were capable of carrying out tasks that were impossible for the most complex of machines back on Earth.

In addition to the four limbs and torso that made a Harvest Golem, they also required a 'Golem Heart'. It was the most important component of a Harvest Golem.

All of the Harvest Golem's strength, intelligence, and programming came from the Golem Heart. Without it, the golem would cease to function.

Old Saldean had inherited these Golem Hearts from his father. They were unable to be replicated or manufactured, and should they break down, even Old Saldean would have no way of repairing them. The only problems that Old Saldean was able to fix were those that were related to the limbs and torso. For example, if there were any damaged, broken, or rusted parts, Old Saldean would be able to repair them.

As an engineering graduate, the technicalities of golem-repair did not pose too much trouble for Sean.

After spending a whole day of effort, Sean had finally mastered the skills required to repair the Harvest Golems. It would not be an exaggeration to say that, if he were to acquire a Golem Heart and some other necessary materials, Sean would be able to create a Harvest Golem of his own.

However, with Sean's current knowledge of the world, he was unable to understand the mechanisms of the Golem Hearts and, as a result, was unable to replicate it.

Sean opened up the Properties Interface and switched to the Skills Panel. It was then that he realized he had earned a new skill.

"Engineering — Apprentice"

By becoming an Apprentice Engineer, Sean had earned the ability to create basic gadgets. This, however, did not interest Sean.

In his view, his most substantial gain today was the Harvest Golem-repairing skills he had acquired, along with the ability to control them. With this, Sean had improved his combat strength by quite a significant amount.

What surprised Sean, however, was that the Spatial Garrison had given him a new quest.

[Side Quest: Golem Hearts]

[Objective: Obtain 10 Golem Hearts.]

[Reward: Small Building Blueprint (Golem Factory)]

After eating dinner, Sean lay on his bed. Using his arm as a pillow, Sean shut his eyes in contemplation.

"10 Golem Hearts?"

Sean rubbed his chin, and with his eyes still closed, he began calculating.

There were at least five farms in Westfall, and each farm contained Harvest Golems of their own. Besides those from the farms, there was a possibility that there were rogue Harvest Golems scattered around Westfall as well. If Sean were to total them all up, there should be at least 50 Harvest Golems, which was by no means a small number.

However, these Harvest Golems were guards posted within their own farms. Without their presence, none of the farms would be peaceful. As such, Sean dared not lay a finger on them, otherwise, Old Man Saldean would be the first person to come after him.

'Maybe I should look for the rogue Harvest Golems?'

As Westfall was a huge area, it would take Sean several months to completely explore. This was time he could not spare, plus, he did not have the determination and stamina for it as well.

"Is there no other way?"

After giving it some more thought, an idea flashed across his mind.

"Oh yeah, the quest only states that it requires Golem Hearts. There's no mention that the Golem Hearts had to be in perfect condition! After all these years, there's bound to be a few Harvest Golems that have broken down, right? Maybe, I can use Golem Hearts from broken Harvest Golems for my quest!" 

On that note, Sean leaped off his bed and ran to look for Old Saldean.

"Old Man Saldean! Old Man Saldean!"

A series of thumps resounded from the floor as Sean rushed towards Old Saldean's room.

A moment later, Old Saldean opened his door, and with an angry expression, he said, "Sean! Why are you making so much noise instead of staying in bed?! What do you want?"

Sean caught a whiff of the sharp smell coming out of the room. It was a VERY familiar smell, and upon noticing Old Saldean's messy clothes, disheveled hair, and reddened face, Sean took a peek into the dark room. Upon making out the vague figure of Salma Saldean, Sean's face instantly turned red.

'The Saldeans were playing a baby-making game and I interrupted them? This is bad!'

'No wonder Old Saldean is mad! If this happened to me, I would've been mad too!'

However, since Sean had already interrupted Old Saldean's fun, he decided to thicken his skin and ask, "Umm, Old Man Saldean, I learned how to repair Harvest Golems today, right? I was wondering, could I borrow a Golem's Heart to study? I still don't understand the Golem Hearts. I don't need a perfect one though, a broken one would do just fine…"

Sean's voice gradually softened as his courage dissipated like the air within a balloon, disappearing within the howling winds coming from the room…'Wait, why is there wind coming from the room?!'

After taking a glance at Sean, Old Saldean's expression improved slightly.

'Oho, so Sean wishes to research Golem Hearts, eh?'

'It had only been a day, but that was all it took for Sean to master repairing the Harvest Golems. This kid's an Engineering genius! If I were to introduce him to the Engineers of Stormwind City, or maybe the Stonemasons Guild…'

The moment the Stonemasons Guild crossed his mind, Old Saldean's expression turned dark, and he cut off his thoughts. He then answered, "The broken Harvest Golems are stored inside the east warehouse. Look for them yourself. However, don't get your hopes up, after all, only Expert Engineers are able to understand it…"

Before Old Saldean had even completed his sentence, Sean had already happily left, leaving Old Saldean behind with a surprised expression. He had meant to continue with, "I'll be bringing you to Goldshire in the next two days. I'll introduce you to the Engineers there and make them take you on as an apprentice…"

Sean had no intention of becoming an Apprentice Engineer with no future. After all, his dream was to become a Mage that was known throughout the land.

Upon reaching the east warehouse, Sean opened the door, and through the moonlight that filtered past the doors, he noticed the abandoned Harvest Golems.

They were around three meters in height and were obvious to spot. They looked just like Gundams.

However…

'Why are there only two golems?'

Sean widened his eyes in surprise.

It had not even occurred to him that after all these years, only two Harvest Golems would break down. However, after giving it some thought, Sean realized that Old Saldean had probably played a huge role in it.

After all, Old Saldean would immediately set off to repair the golems the moment a problem occurred. By doing so, Old Saldean had greatly extended the lifespans of the Harvest Golems, and as such, Sean could understand how only two golems had broken down.

However, if that were the case, it had also meant that Sean's hope had been crushed.

As he dejectedly dug out the two Golem Hearts and placed them into his inventory, Sean shook his head and muttered to himself, "It seems that I'll need to visit the other farms. I do hope that there are more broken Harvest Golems in those farms. Otherwise, this quest will be quite a pain to complete."