Tear A Path 219 Weapon Testing

The ant.i.thesis to that material was the fabled mithril. While hard in it's habitat, the material would turn into a puddle once taken out, the smiths would have had to employ a method of using extreme heat and cold to ensure even a part of it's properties remained onto whatever they were making.

But if even a sliver of those properties latched itself onto it's intended target, the mana of it's owner could be amplified by greatly in response to it's concentration. Which was exactly why Zhao Wei was willfully digging into the crab's grey matter for that tiny bullet which was laced with mithril which amplified his one explosive trap to such a destructive level.

Once he was done, he could finally heave a sigh as they marched back to camp dropping off their spoils and dumping the used weapons in front of the lab.

"Anything?" Grendolyn poked her head out.

"I think a lot of these are pretty fun, to play with..." Zhao Wei replied, eliciting a grin from her. "But none of them really suit me." Turning that grin back into a frown.

These past few days, Zhao Wei had dragged Myra around the wilderness specifically for weapon testing from the compound's miraculously untouched warehouse. Like any other dwarf, Grendolyn had not skimped on her blacksmithing, but none of her works came close to fitting him, at most he could use them tactically.

"I've looked into that staff you showed me, and I have to say, it's not like any material I've ever come across anything like it." He'd left his usual equipment with her to see whether she could make something for him. While that was going on, he might as well try things out to find something he liked.

"I can make a head for your staff, but that's dependent on what you feel suits you best." She stated, trying to get an answer out of him. Only after waiting and watching his confused face go back and forth did she let it go and enter into the back.

By the time he realized, she had already come back and placed a bundle on the table.

Flipping it open, he was met with the sight of a complete set of black metal spears lined up just perfectly. Well, it was safer to call them harpoons as their single sided angular blades glimmered sinisterly in the warm afternoon light sliding into a center where it culminated into a brutally sharp point. The curved back edge sending shivers down his spine just thinking about the kind of havoc it would cause once it nestled itself between layers of muscle and flesh.

Pulling one out of it's holding, he brushed his hands against a very familiar shaft, the ivory bones he'd sharpened now served him again, even the imprints from his palms on that body stayed and helped his fingers find their grasp and balance.

"I thought you'd like that." Grendolyn commented after watching him fawning over the weapon.

He nodded in response, eyes darting around the darkening dunes. He'd just returned, but something inside was already urging him to go back out and give this a test on the first beast he could find.

Unfortunately, that little plan was stopped short as a wall of hardened sand appeared between him and the door. "I know you want to play with the presents as soon as possible, but I hope you haven't forgotten about dinner."

"Yeah I'll be back before you get hungry." He complained, rushing her to let him go.

"Once I get hungry it'll be too late already." Grendolyn groaned.

"15 minutes... If I don't find anything I'll head straight back." He rea.s.sured, finally getting the wall to crumble.

Watching him run out like a child with a new bike elicited a smile from her face.

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A furry little critter dashed across the dessert. It's long pointed toes sending jets of sand behind it like an after burn. From time to time it's little ears would p.r.i.c.k up, scanning the illusory silence of it's habitat.

Surviving the dessert was almost a game to it, the shifting of each bit of sand resounded with pure clarity in it's ears. Many predators of this area had tried stalking it in hopes of tasting it's flesh, only to find that it had been leading them on far before they even decided to hunt it in the first place. If it was spotted, it was because it wanted to be spotted.

Though that was the case, today's predator didn't come from the area.