A whole day passed with them being shown around by Varsylos. His workspace housed a wide variety of impressive contraptions, and not all of them appeared to be entirely stable. She had expressed some interest in a pair of shoes which he had explained were noise dampened. Throughout the whole tour, Varsylos kept on pestering Tilia for her explosive recipe, but received naught but gleeful rebukes. His workshop, outwardly just a big house of some status, hid underneath it a large underground tunnel which served as the main workshop.

"So what exactly are we here for?" Carys posed the question as Varsylos finished up an explaination of some spyglass-like item.

"I'm about to test the best, most lethal weapon in the world... It'll revolutionize the way we kill each other, and I want you all to test it for me, and protect it against national spies while I conduct the tests and then melt the project."

"Is it explosive!?" Tilia jumped up and down with excitement.

"It'll blow your mind... Of course, it will be much more effective with your explosive compound..."

"Which you won't get so hah!" She stuck out her tounge.

"So where is this weapon?" Rein looked around and gently lifted the tarp to peek under the nearest project."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"It's deeper in the tunnel... This way."

Varsylos led them down through a hidden trapdoor concealed behind a bronze statue of what appeared to be a dragon. He carefully lit a small lamp and guided them through tight, moist tunnels until they stopped before a metal door. He put a key in the lock and the well-greased door swung open. To Ferran, the door reminded her of the large doors they had penetrated back in the archive. Behind the door was a large, long hall. Light was provided by securely sealed lamps, and the floor had been cleaned spotless. In the middle of the hall stood a tarp-covered object, and on a table next to it, a set of smaller, covered objects.

"This is some place you have here..." Rein whistled.

"It used to be some old ruin, I, freshened it up a bit... Now please, observe."

He walked over to the big, covered object and pulled away the tarp. Beneath was a long, big and thick metal tube, secured by large bolts to a metal mounting. Some sort of screw on cap sat on their end.

"So... What's this metal straw for?" Tilia made a scoff. "It doesn't even seem remotely dangerous."

"Watch."

He walked over to the metal tube. After some pulling, got the large grooved end open. He went over to a small sealed box and took out a round package and a grooved metal cone. He rammed both into the tube, sealed the back end and told them to stand back.

"Now look at that nice brick wall over there... Oh, and use these earplugs... You young people might go deaf. Go stand over in that corner there, in case I haven't bolted it well enough to the floor."

"What happens if it explodes?" Her question made him smile.

"Then we all die."

Using his fingers, Varsylos counted down, and then pulled a string attached to the metal tube...