“Hah, who knows?” The Scalpel laughed, easy. “But we can go again some other time. Doesn’t have to be a big match. Just shooting for fun’s fine too.”

  Pandora nodded with a smile.

  Like The Scalpel said, that kind of no-pressure, clean sparring could sharpen them both.

  She could use the practice, so no reason to say no.

  Right then,

  The Scalpel seemed to remember something, his tone turning casual:

  “Oh, yeah. Your shooting’s top tier, but... can I ask, what does shooting mean to you?”

  Pandora paused.

  The first thing in her head was that shooting didn’t mean anything deep. She practiced, even did the challenge, just to kill time and because it was fun...

  But she couldn’t just say that. It’d be rude, especially since he clearly saw her as a real shooter.

  “Could I... hear what you think first?”

  “Sure.”

  The Scalpel’s smile was open.

  “Here’s my take: shooting isn’t the same as power. Shooting can be a hobby, a skill, a tool for power, or a way to use it. But it’s not power itself.”

  Saying it, his face got serious, like he was sharing a core rule he’d thought over for ages.

  Pandora, caught by his honesty, listened close. She nodded.

  “Right... shooting isn’t power.”

  “Also,” The Scalpel’s voice grew heavier, “there’s stuff you might not know. Places like Eden... they’re some of the few spots in the Ruined City to unwind. I get how good it feels here, specially for someone new. Like back in the arena, everyone screaming for your win—that quick, sweet high, I know it.”

  “But, as someone who’s been around... I gotta say this: no matter how sweet Eden feels, you gotta keep your head straight here.”

  “Eden’s pretty, but it’s dangerous. Anyone walking in Eden... should watch their step.”

  “Get it?”

  The jump from friendly gun talk to Eden’s two faces was a little sudden, but with The Scalpel’s steady, earnest vibe, Pandora took it in.

  What he said made sense.

  And, truth told, she’d already figured that much:

  Eden wasn’t some safe haven.

  Even these seven months that looked like she was just messing around, she’d always felt the sharp edge under Eden’s nice surface and stayed ready.

  “I’ll be careful. I’ll look out for myself,” Pandora said, matching his tone.

  “Good, just thought I’d mention it, that’s all.”

  Seeing she got it, The Scalpel seemed to ease up, the eagerness coming back.

  “Also, if you’re free, wanna hit my private range? Trade some tips?”

  He stopped mid-thought like he remembered something.

  “Wait... forgot, your gun’s already...” He glanced at Pandora, then at the “Smithy” sign behind her, a flicker of regret in his eyes.

  But...

  “No problem. I've got a spare.”

  The Scalpel’s brow lifted a bit, a flash of surprise there and gone.

  “Looks like you really understood what I said. My advice might've been extra.”

  “Not extra,” Pandora smiled. “Always good to hear another view on Eden.”

  She went to grab her spare from her pack to follow The Scalpel, who was looking keen again,

  when a kinda-familiar voice called from not far off...

  “Baroness!”

  Hm?

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  Pandora turned.

  The guy was young, with bright gold hair, sky-blue eyes, and a vibe like a noble’s kid down on his luck.

  His clothes were fancy, clashing hard with the rough quarry around him.

  Truth was, this guy was one of the few “friends” Pandora had made in seven months.

  Mainly a business “friend.”

  “Baroness, finally caught you,” the blond guy walked up fast, wearing his usual mix of sharp and eager smile. “Didn’t expect today to be your lucky day—two wins at once!”

  Pandora raised a brow.

  Oh? Two things?

  “First,” the broker started with a smooth, congratulatory nod, “is you, Baroness, pulling off that crazy four-win streak in ‘Death Sprint’!”

  Then the second thing.

  He called it a “surprise,” the real reason he’d tracked her down.

  He paused, playing up the mystery.

  But in Pandora’s head, something clicked.

  She knew the only real reason he’d look for her—

  The meditation method!

  That word lit up her mind!

  It was the one thing she’d been wanting to get.

  Originally, The Wizard’s Tome from Warden Dulles’s body had a full meditation method, good enough to take a Wizard from first to third rank.

  But before, she never got why the meditation inside did almost nothing for her.

  Now, Pandora knew the main reason: Dulles’s prize Wizard book was a careful fake... made by the Demon Hunter Academy.

  The Academy wrote a “script” for every Orchard World.

  And scripts need “actors” and “props.”

  “Actors” were mostly the live “Iron Golems” the Academy put into the orchards.

  “Props” were these weird items full of the place’s feel.

  If the props were all real things from the orchard world, then every “harvest” of ripe “fruit” meant a batch of stuff getting taken out for good.

  Some of it might be key props the script needed, like... Dulles’s so-called “family Wizard book.”

  To stop that from messing up later “scripts,”

  after each batch of “fruit” was done, the Academy would make and put back... “copies” of the stuff that got taken.

  That’s where all the near-identical junk on the apprentice market came from.

  Truth was, aside from the crazy-rare “Originals,” most of it was just “copies.”

  But since these were copies the Academy whipped up for Orchard World “scripts,” they couldn’t be top-shelf.

  Like the Wizard’s Tome Pandora had. Looked like it had everything from first rank up to third.

  But really, only the first-to-second rank bit actually worked.

  The rest, missing key parts or just badly copied, was trash to actually use. The efficiency was in the dirt... basically worthless.

  That was why she’d been hunting for a new meditation method all along.

  She needed a real “Wizard’s Tome,” or something Wizard-type on that level, not this broken fake.

  Thinking that,

  a light, polite smile touched Pandora’s face. “So, that thing I asked you to find finally turned up? Not shocking. You promised me that a while back.”

  The blond broker laughed, open. “True.”

  Right then, The Scalpel, standing quiet nearby, cut in:

  “In that case, I’ll leave you to your business.”

  He had tact. This broker was clearly here for a “deal” with “The Baroness” that meant no ears. Staying would've been rude.

  “Baroness, you've got things to handle. I’m off. We can talk shooting another time.”

  “Deal,” Pandora nodded quick.

  She gave a friendly wave to the fellow shooting purist.

  Watching The Scalpel’s steady back fade from view,

  the blond man turned back, a knowing grin on his face:

  “That’s ‘The Scalpel,’ yeah?”

  Pandora looked back, not yes, not no. “You know him?”

  “Course. Broker’s gotta know the ‘names’ at the Quarry.”

  A little pride tinted his tone before he added,

  “Oh, worth saying, you’re one of the ‘names’ now.”

  Pandora asked, casual-like, “So... in your circles, who’s ‘The Baroness’?”

  “What, the Quarry’s hottest sprint star... and the potion supply-wrecker on ‘Ascension Road’—‘The Empty Vial,’” the broker answered straight.

  The “Ascension Road” the blond guy meant was Eden’s potion trade street—Pandora’s second-most-hit spot in seven months, so she knew it.

  She even knew the name had two edges.

  First, was about climbing in power. Most potions on that street were for boosting ‘Corpse-Plague Acolytes,’ one way or another.

  Second, was that potions here came from solo sellers. Unlike the stuff straight from the Academy for points, the quality swung wild. Even from the same brewer, batch to batch wasn’t sure. Sometimes a tiny, hard-to-spot screw-up in the brew meant one bottle could flatline you.

  Hence, ‘Ascension.’

  A pretty dark joke of a name.

  But that naming style was big in the Ruined City. She was used to it by now.

  As for her own two tags, both were what Pandora expected. But after a beat, she played it cool and checked again.

  “That’s it? Your skills don’t seem that great.”

  Hearing that, a properly sour smile hit the blond broker’s face.

  “You give me too much credit,” he said, hands open. “You’re a ghost. Leave Eden, you’re gone. Who could know more? Right?”

  Pandora gave a silent nod.

  Not that she totally bought the flattery, but she knew most main intel brokers in Eden right now didn’t have deeper dirt on her.

  She’d kept her big secrets pretty tight these seven months.

  “Alright, back on track,” Pandora steered it home. “Tell me this ‘good news.’”

  The guy was happy to. Smiling, he laid it out slow:

  “Came by a few times before. Those times, you said no good.”

  Pandora thought, then nodded.

  True, these past months, she hadn’t sat still. Through a few different brokers, she’d gotten some leads on meditation methods.

  But... how to say it? Basically, none hit the mark.

  Those methods were too low-tier. The best only got you to third rank max—basically the same level as the “Original” Wizard’s Tome she already had.

  But third rank was too “close” for her.

  Using a method like that meant she’d be shopping for the next one almost right after hitting third, wasting a lot of effort switching over.

  That “new method every rank” feeling gave Pandora a bad sense of déjà vu.

  So she wanted a one-shot deal.

  Even if she couldn’t get a higher-rank method, it should at least let her “break past third rank,” right? Let her climb steady for two ranks at least?

  So, it wasn’t no leads. Her bar was just high, making her wait till now.

  “But this time’s different.”

  The broker smiled mysterious, his grin brighter than before.

  “This meditation method, I promise you’ll like it!”

  Oh?

  Pandora felt a real spark of interest.

  Had they finally found a method that’d work for her?

  “This time...”

  The broker dropped his voice, slow and clear:

  “The other side’s info says it can take you all the way to... fifth rank!”

  A fifth-rank meditation method?!

  Pandora’s eyes went sharp; they lit right up!

  A raw wave of excitement hit her.

  But fast, she cooled down.

  Forget the price, if she could even afford it.

  Just the truth of the info needed a hard check.

  Thinking that, the clear light in Pandora’s gaze settled back to its usual calm.