Harper ended up enjoying her week working as the local courier. Once past the first couple days, she settled into an easy routine and was able to complete all her tasks with plenty of time to spare. She didn’t need to constantly be on her guard, scanning the forest and alert for threats.

  Best of all, she relished the independence doing the job alone granted her. Little of her schedule was set in stone, it was up to her when and how to do her runs. While she did have a set of required tasks, the majority of them were to be done at her discretion.

  The remainder of the week passed quickly. Her tasks kept her busy. Briar grew used to traveling around with her and became surprisingly cooperative. The snake corpse in her aetherspace was broken down for materials and the Alius within matured. Harper got used to the enhancements brought by integrating a core, ensuring the best chance of success for her upcoming duel.

  Finally, Frostday arrived.

  Harper turned the corner, noticing the crowd surrounding the training field near the barracks where the duel was to take place. Great. We’ll have an audience, she thought wryly. Well, time to get this over with. Though, I’ll admit, it’s been a while since I’ve had a nice duel.

  She had arrived only slightly early, not wanting to be standing around waiting. She circled around to an opening in the small throng of people. The crowd consisted mostly of the nearby guards and some of the rangers. She even recognized a couple of her coworkers, having come to watch the show.

  The governor was noticeably absent. Either he was too busy, or he wanted to make a statement. This might have been his way of showing disapproval over the duel. Gavin stood on the opposite side, talking to some others in the crowd.

  Racks of blunted weapons stood on the side. The armory requisition officer, Wilbur Brogen stood slightly apart from everyone in the center of the training field. Harper guessed he was the arbiter of this match.

  He noticed her and clapped his hands loudly. “Attention everyone, the duel is about to begin. Duelists,” he looked from Gavin to Harper, “choose your weapons from among the available selection.”

  While Harper and Gavin did so, Officer Brogen began listing off the rules. They were to stay in the designated circle, avoid seriously injuring the other party, and stop the fight the moment he called for it.

  There were several win conditions. Surrender and incapacitation were both on the table, but they were unlikely to reach such a point. The more likely was one would score enough hits to win. Either ten solid hits in a non-vital area, or a hit in an area that would have likely been fatal if they were using sharpened weapons and lethal force.

  Safety wasn’t too much of a concern. Both had great motivation to avoid leaving debilitating injuries on the other. If Harper crippled or killed the young man on accident, no amount of goodwill would save her from his father. If she wasn’t killed, it would only be to not start a greater conflict. If he seriously harmed or killed her, her parents would respond, exiled or not.

  Harper picked the most well-balanced rapier she could find. It wasn’t up to the workmanship she was used to, her own blade being of the highest quality. For this duel though, it would do.

  Gavin elected to pick up a wide-bladed falchion and buckler. A choice balanced between offense and defense. He held them competently and faced her with a confident expression. Her own face she kept impassive.

  The officer gave a countdown, and the duel began. Gavin kicked off with an aggressive lunge, trying to catch her by surprise. She punished him for it, slipping to the side and leaving a bruise on his arm.

  He reoriented back to her, and readied his shield, closing off the opening she had taken advantage of. Harper didn’t let her momentum slip away. She dashed towards him, slashing at his sword side. He awkwardly pulled the shield around, trying to block her attack.

  It was only a feint though, and she whipped her sword down, leaving a mark on his leg, before jumping back from his sword swipe, which was momentarily delayed due to the clumsy positioning of his shield.

  Harper circled him, probing for weakness and taking advantage of every opening. She turned the coordination needed to wield both sword and shield against him. What should have been a formidable combination was turned into a hinderance. She left openings on his shield side that normally could have been exploited and concentrated on striking where it was inconvenient for him to block.

  There was a reason she was so confident about her chances, enough that she hadn’t bothered to gain information on the young man’s fighting style and tendencies. She didn’t need to.

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  His form was sloppy, and he overextended himself constantly. He fought against her not like he was fighting a fellow human, but instead a creature of similar size. He hadn’t bothered employing faints at first, only doing so as the duel dragged on. He didn’t watch for openings and try to predict her movements, instead trying to beat her with pure force.

  He would certainly rival her, if not outshine her, when it came to fighting a creature. Judging by both his fighting style and his position in the rangers, it was something he had a mountain of practice in. But fighting a creature and a fellow humanoid were very different things.

  Harper had received the best training from a young age. It was expected that she would be involved in the war for northern Magnon once she had manifested two Domains and become a Magnate. She was destined for a life fighting people, not monsters. If such an occasion arose, she would use her Alius and her Apex Domain.

  Such was no longer the case, but her training and talent served her well. Her brother was her frequent sparring partner, and they had dueled many times over the years. Despite her lagging behind when it came to the Domains, she was the superior dueler by far. He only won a single match out of a dozen.

  And he was an excellent duelist.

  The win rate only started to turn when he began outstripping her in terms of physical capability, and they still favored her even then. After all, formal duels were more about skill than pure combat power. It was only after he gained the Solar Domain, and his body was reforged, that things changed.

  They only had one bout in the time between him manifesting the Domain and her leaving. It was so imbalanced that they hadn’t bothered having anymore. He won without her even getting close to scoring a hit.

  If Harper had not manifested a Domain, the same would hold true against Gavin. The difference in speed and strength was just too overwhelming. If she had not integrated a core before fighting Gavin, she judged that she would still have won, but it would have been significantly more challenging.

  As it was, she danced around him, scoring hit after hit. He soon became frustrated, making more mistakes and taking risker chances. None of which panned out. At eight hits, he threw his shield at her in a surprise gambit. It didn’t work. She dodged out of the way, and he earned a ninth bruise for the trouble.

  The crowd around them grumbled. Whether at the one-sided nature, or his action. Throwing his shield wasn’t exactly illegal, but it was definitely considered poor form. It may have been forgivable if it worked, but it had not.

  Harper made her first and only overtly aggressive move of the day. Gavin took a half-hearted swipe at her, and she stepped in, parrying the blade with all her strength and tripping him with her foot. She shoved forward in the same motion, bulling him over despite his larger size. His blade went flying and he landed on his back.

  Her dull blade came to a rest on his throat. The duel was over, if it could be called that. Harper had wanted to send a message, and it seemed she had succeeded. Gavin reddened, and she was sure that he was about to start yelling. But he did not, instead, he looked away, staring at the ground a few yards over.

  Perhaps Harper should not have humiliated him so. It would not have killed her to let him land a few hits. If she had spared some of his pride, he would be less likely to start a feud. She just couldn’t help herself. Not doing her best would have rankled her. Besides, it would have been... ingenuine.

  Fortunately, it didn’t look like he was inclined to make further trouble. It would be best to keep it that way. She wanted to smirk, to gloat, to lord her total victory over him. Instead, she kept her face a blank slate held out a hand.

  He looked up in surprise. He hesitated for a moment before taking it, letting her lift him up. The irritating man looked at her with begrudging respect and nodded. Turning, he left the circle of chattering onlookers, only giving the officer a nod, but speaking with no one else.

  Harper followed his example. Except, Officer Brogen stopped her. “Here, the governor told me to give you this upon your victory. Take this voucher to this city’s branch of the crafter’s guild. They’ll direct you to Magnate Sinclair.

  “Don’t squander this, he’s thought to be the best aethersmith tinker in the colonies; all our important people have a gun made by him personally. Even a gun made and enchanted with a single core will serve you well for decades. The governor considers him a strategic asset.”

  Harper thanked him and left the crowd of dispersing onlookers. She made her way directly to the crafter’s guild, eager to put in the order. What the officer had told her was not new information to her. She was aware that there was a semi-famous aethersmith that specialized in gadgets and devices. She had been vaguely aware of his existence since before she left Magnon; rumors of his talent had reached even the main continent.

  After thinking about it a while, she had realized that he was likely the one that had made Vayuhn’s restrictive implant. Harper had not anticipated being able to commission something from him until she was both far wealthier, and far more influential. She was surprised that Vayuhn’s master, who she now knew was the ranger captain, was able to acquire a piece from him.

  The Aquatic Domain was not one that was well suited to firearms. It was the reason she had been given her bag instead of an enchanted flintlock. This tinkerer might have an idea though. If he could channel the Domain of Sea’s potential crushing pressure into a firearm, she could have one as good as any enchanted with the forceful power of Sky or the explosive power of Sun.

  Harper had made a few deliveries to the crafter’s guild this past week, so she had no trouble finding her way. Soon enough, she was in the building and handing the voucher to the receptionist. Fortunately, the aethersmith was currently in his workshop. She followed the instructions given to her by the receptionist to a door with the name Declan Sinclair set onto it. Harper knocked, and a raised voice called, “Come in.” She did so.