"What do you think?" King pointed at his table that had several crossbows of different sizes lying on it.
Nick scratched his head, "No idea. What are the differences of piercing power, range and costs for each of them? And are the regular soldiers capable of loading all of these?"
He went to the table picked up one crossbow and played around with it a little. This was his first time holding one in his hands so he really had no idea how to judge.
But following his questions one of the generals, tall and burly man, introduced himself.
"My name is Julian Rollen, you are friends with my son, Steven. I see you want to judge the same way as we do."
"I don't really think there are any other ways to judge. Oh, by the way – did you manage to think of something that could make this weapon technology to not be easily replicated?" Nick asked.
"We're still working on it. First, we have to make a working product and then think of such details." Head of the Rollen family replied.
Nick picked up the biggest crossbow and tried to pull the string back. When he couldn't do it with just hands, he put the crossbow's front down on the floor, stepped on it with both feet and with the strength of his whole body pulled the string back.
"I think I forgot something when I drew the sketch. In the front of this weapon we can make a stirrup that could be used in a similar way as I just did – by stepping on it and it will make much easier to pull the string back. That way the regular soldiers could use stronger crossbows. There should be possibilities for other improvements, but for now I can't think of any." Nick said with regret in his voice.
The others looked at him as if he was a monster. This child wasn't even ten years old, but it felt like he could easily be of a similar status as them.
The king was used to Nick's antics, so he only grinned while looking at the rest and said, "Fine, if you think of anything, let us know. Also, it would be nice if you could join Steven Rollen and visit few weapon factories. Who knows, maybe you'll have few more innovative ideas."
When back then king told Nick that he wouldn't underestimate even a toddler, he wasn't lying. And since he had gotten his hands on a small genius who didn't ask anything in return, he had to use the situation to the fullest.
"Nicolas Berglund, once again you have done kingdom a good service. Is there anything you require or want as a reward?" King was certain there won't be any excessive demands, so he freely asked.
"Your majesty, I don't really need anything." As expected, Nick said, while scratching his head, "Oh, maybe you can give me a really good dagger. The one I used before was getting rusty all the time when diving and in the end I lost it during the attack on the palace."
"Hahaha, you lost it in the neck of a Qi master, you little shrimp!" The king began to laugh out laud.
To few of the present this was quite shocking news. Not every detail was widely known and Nick's feat was not made public because there was no need to draw an unnecessary attention to him. Firstly because it could put him in danger and secondly – in the future he might become a hidden ace.
"If you have started to practice Qi, why don't you get a sword?" Julian Rollen asked.
"Since I don't intend to run around and kill people, I don't want to learn the sword." Nick plainly stated to shock the present people again. Both Maxwells had already interacted with him and this was no big news, but for the others it was quite inconceivable. Every boy in this kingdom dreamed of becoming a strong Qi sword master, similar to their king, but this one, even being a talented genius, turned out to be a pacifist! What a waste!
"Generals, please don't be shocked." Nick explained, "You see, to protect the country and enforce the security is a job of a soldier, but I don't intend to become one. I have other dreams. Of course, I understand you think I am talented and I also intend to help you guys as much as I can, but don't expect me to siege enemy cities or join the cavalry."
After a brief period of silence Julian Rollen said, "I can respect that. Every man has to follow his dreams." Then he turned to the king and continued, "Your majesty, please let me reward Nick with the dagger your grandfather gifted to mine. Although its actual value might surpass the introduction of this new revolutionary weaponry, he will have a lot of time and opportunities to make up for it. In fact, I think that he might be the right person to use it."
King didn't answer right away, but fell in thought while holding his chin.
Seeing his son couldn't make up his mind, old king Albert spoke up, "I think Julian has a great idea. This weapon suits Nick very well. Later you'll see how the dagger resonates with Qi, it's quite interesting and with your imagination you might come up with something new and surprise us again." He smiled at Nick, "But there will be one harsh condition. If you can't accept it, it's better for you to get another random knife. You can use this dagger only when you are alone or in presence or a trustworthy friend. If an enemy sees it, they have to die. No exceptions!"
King saw the confusion on Nick's face, "This weapon is legendary and any expert will recognize it even if they have never seen it before. What my father said is – until you can defend it, no one can know of it. Just like that item. Actually, they both might be worth the same. Do you understand it now?" He obviously was speaking about the wristband and Nick was clear about it.
"Thank you, your majesty. I would like to see this dagger first, but I can assure you I can fulfill that condition." He nodded.
"Good!" Julian Rollen smiled, "Then I officially would like to invite you to visit our factories three days later. Steven will pick you up in the morning and later we can have dinner at our residence."
Nick thanked and few minutes later left.
One of generals turned to the king, "You majesty, I agree he is a genius, but … did he really killed a Qi master? And how?"
"Sigh, no idea. Ling said he barely could see him move almost as if Nick instantly appeared behind that assassin. He was trying to save Ben Donnel at that time and apparently instinctively used some movement technique. It was so powerful that he almost crippled his feet. Sigismund Marbel said it was an incredible luck that the Qi pathways were only damaged and not destroyed." King shook his head, "You have to understand that if Ling barely saw that movement, that means this child could've been faster than anyone in this room. And that includes me!"
King looked at his stupefied generals with a smile, "And the best thing is, he truly loves this country and doesn't have any political ambitions. He has a pure heart and wants to destroy the evil. Although as a king I have to use him a little bit here and there, I still look forward to his future accomplishments."
Three days later Nick met up with Steven and they went on excursion through the Rollen family's factories. On the first glance there was nothing he could help with. Rollens have been around for centuries and their experience was vast. On the positive side, he learned a lot himself.
In the evening both boys mentally tired arrived at the Rollen family mansion. While Steven was escorting Nick to the main building, Nick saw multiple statues surrounding the courtyard. They were men wearing heavy armor and holding different weapons.
"Our family puts a lot of pride in the military tradition. Every single one of them has been a famous general of the Sun kingdom. Probably my older brother's statue will also stand here one day." Steven explained when he saw Nick's gaze.
"Your brother?"
"Ye, Graham. He is the youngest and probably most talented general in last the hundred years. For now he's stationed at the north-western border, but if the things continue like they are now, he'll probably be fighting the Sand and Lori kingdoms pretty soon".
"But if your family is taking an active part in the kingdom's affairs, especially the army, doesn't it create an imbalance in power between the three great aristocratic families?" Nick wondered.
"Not really. It has been historically like this. In fact, our forefathers have been closer to the royal family than any other. Even my father is, probably, one of the few friends his majesty has, maybe even the only friend." Steven proudly said.
"That explains a lot." Nick nodded.
In most countries the military industry usually was monopolized by the government, but this close relationship made it possible to let an ally and a friend take care of one of your problems. It also explained how and why the meeting three days ago went like that. Rollen family had no secrets from the king, on contrary, they worked together hand in hand.
The dinner went in a very similar fashion to the one Nick had in the Meyer mansion. Father and son entertained Nick with casual chatter as they sampled few delicacies.
After they ate, Julian Rollen brought Nick to his study and took out an old wooden box.
"This is the weapon we talked about. No one knows where it came from or who has forged it. And you'll see, it has almost magical properties. One that I know of is, if you infuse Qi in it, you'll be able to cut through steel. It is said to have it's own soul, but that's obvious nonsense, of course. My grandfather was like you in a way, he never used a sword, but from the day his friend, the king at the time, gifted him this weapon, he never parted from it till he passed away." Julian Rollen opened the box and looked at the dagger with a complicated gaze, "This is probably the sharpest knife that ever existed, but unfortunately it's not a sword."
Nick took a few steps forward so he could finally take a look at the famed weapon. What he saw was a slightly curved thin blade, with a short handle and almost nonexistent guard. The whole weapon was pitch black and didn't reflect light at all, on contrary, it seemed as if it was absorbing the light instead. It was around thirty centimeters long and looked very elegant.
"Wakizashi? It's beautiful." Nick exclaimed.
"Do you know what this weapon is?" Julian was surprised.
"Not really, it just reminds me of something I've seen before." Nick hurried to explain, "But even if it's extremely sharp and beautiful, why is it priceless?"
Julian took out the dagger from the box, infused Qi in it and it sounded almost as if the weapon groaned in pleasure. Then he went over to a decorative weapon stand, took out a simple looking longsword. Then holding the black dagger in the right hand and the longsword in the left, he began to cut off small pieces from it. Within half a minute there was a small pile of scrap metal on the floor.
"If your ability to manipulate Qi is higher than your opponent's, there is no way for them to block your attack – you will just cut their weapon in half. Same goes for the armor." Julian explained, "The downside, of course, is that a skilled swordsman would never let his own sword touch it. Every experienced Qi master on the continent knows of this weapon's existence and most likely will recognize it on the spot. That is one of the reasons the old king told you to hide it."
He passed dagger to Nick who took it with both hands, his eyes shining brightly. Although he previously didn't intend to learn to use the sword or any other weapon, this was an exquisite piece of art and he wanted to have it even if it was for it's beauty.