“Greetings again youngling,” Atal said as he looked over the items I'd set out.

He and his entourage had just arrived to the place I'd been directed, and I couldn't help but notice the several bound and struggling beasts pulled along after them. Going to the palace once again and asking if there was a way to get him or someone like him to test a few weapons had gotten me a very, very quick response and an open stretch of sand right near the beach.

“Greetings Ancient. I hope the day finds you well,” I replied.

Slowly the old elf strode past the lain out pieces. “You think one of these might handle my strength?”

“To be honest, no. I made sure to tell the messenger it was unlikely, but without knowing where the failures might occur I cannot make something that might succeed. This is likely to take me some time.” I held myself straight, getting the feeling that he didn't want people to grovel too much without cause.

Atal didn't seem all that displeased with the answer, after all he'd been the one to tell me that I had time. “I understand, how do these work?” he asked as he picked up the copper staff sling.

“Perhaps we should start with the club? It's the most straightforward, and will give a good measure of your power,” I said, indicating the item in question.

He picked up the solid copper mace with ease, which was pretty impressive with its weight. Then he motioned and one of the animals was released by the guards. It was around the size of an alligator, though with a conformation more like that of a pig. The whole thing's body was covered in stone looking skin.

The ancient warrior blurred in my vision, one moment beside me, the next standing over the beast. His arm somehow moved even faster than that, not even presenting an image to my eyes. The hand was simply raised one moment, and down the next, accompanied by an explosive sound and the beast's head being replaced by a crater.

One look told me almost everything I needed to know. The shaft of the weapon had bent, curving almost forty-five degrees. The head of it was flattened where it had struck, a complete failure of the soft metal in my book.

As he shifted it in his hands I saw the imprint his fingers had made on the shaft. That must by why he didn't throw things, when he moved that fast his grip strength multiplied too. Maybe he'd just crushed rocks to dirt when he'd tried, each breaking under his fingers.

“That held up well,” he remarked as he looked over the destroyed weapon. At my surprised look he actually laughed before explaining. “Most things would just be bits if I used them thus. It failed, but it failed while still achieving its function.”

He returned the first weapon to its place, something I was thankful for. It wouldn't ruin me if he decided to take all of these, or if they were rendered into scrap, but it did represent a high percentage of the copper currently in the city, and losing it all would be a pain. I'd already written off the staff sling/spear.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“I see, the next two are types of throwers. Please allow me to demonstrate,” I said as I picked up the one made for balls. Making the projectiles for it was not too bad, with me having used simple wooden balls for mine and stone for his.

I showed how it was loaded and then tossed the small wooden sphere down the beach a bit, getting fairly good distance. I noticed a few of his advisors perk at seeing that.

“Interesting,” he remarked as he picked up the metal version and nodded for the next beast to be released.

His first shot missed, going wide and impacting a sand dune like a meteor, but he didn't seem perturbed. Instead he looked down at the thrower, because it had survived. Like the first weapon I could see the indents his fingers had made, but the main body hadn't deformed much at all.

“Very interesting,” he said as he loaded the next stone ball.

The poor animal was bolting as fast as it could away from a terror even greater than itself when the second ball slammed into it. I couldn't see the actual strike, but the aftereffect was clear. A cloud of gore flew upwards.

My creation was now very bent though. It might survive another shot but it probably wouldn't be accurate worth a flip while it did so. Atal though was smiling and laughing.

“Oh good, very good. You see grandson?” he said as he addressed one of the men who'd come with him. “It survived not once, but two uses, and perhaps it would even make a third. Magnificent, magnificent! Justin, you said you think you can improve these?”

It was not lost on me that he had addressed me by name, or the manic look on his face. “I... yes Ancient, I think I can,” I stammered under the pressure.

Then came the staff sling, my demonstration of the wood version of this got even more attention from the advisors. Getting the angle on its releasing notch right had required a bit of work, but once that was done it was just a staff with a bit of rope and a place to hold a rock. Even that simple I could still throw something the size of a baseball a couple hundred feet. Historically they were supposed to go even further, but I was no expert.

“Ancestor, even if that doesn't work for you we should arm some of the guard with them,” one of the men spoke.

“Agreed,” Atal said without even looking at him.

As I might have expected after seeing the previous two tests this one was a total bust. Copper was just too soft, and couldn't bend anywhere near fast enough to handle the kind of stress that I was asking of it. I'd not expected the staff to break as it did, sending the top half flying, but it was unsurprising. The last of the beasts fled, with the ruler of the city seemingly unbothered by it in the least.

“I was hoping it would survive, so you could try throwing it as well. If you look at the tip you can see where I formed it into a spear-like shape,” I commented as I frowned at the broken tool.

“I do,” he remarked, turning it a bit.

“Ah, no matter, the last one got away anyway,” I pointed to where the small monster had turned a corner.

“Don't fret, I brought another target,” he commented. “Did you think I wouldn't notice the thefts from my treasury?” he asked to nobody in particular.

One of the ministers froze, his eyes going wide. “Wait, please,” he got out before the ruler turned and threw the bottom half of the staff at him.

Much like the beast that had been obliterated the elven man's chest was just torn apart. He struggled on the ground, gurgling and thrashing a bit as the city's ruler strolled past to retrieve the projectile. I didn't find looking at it and away from the dying man easy, but I did so regardless. The spear half had been rendered into little more than scrap, malformed and weird.

“Also effective, not at all bad for a first attempt Justin. I would like you to have one of the second one remade and sent to me, then continue your work. Some people will be by tomorrow to aid you in it as my thanks.” With that he tossed the destroyed bit lightly into the pile and turned, his people in tow.

I'd known that Atal was dangerous, but as I looked upon the corpse cooling on the beach it reminded me just how dangerous. Either his morals were so foreign that I really just didn't understand them or he was a psychopath, potentially both. He had an army at his beck and call, and power that I was still having trouble even properly getting a grip on.

There was something added to my to-do list, something important, but something I could never speak aloud. I needed a way to stop him should it ever come to it, something to counter that old monster. Weapons would have to be made for him, but I would try to limit them where I could while I thought up something. I was going to need myself a weapon of unbelievable power, like an orbital bombardment, or a nuke.