7:30 AM, 23rd of December, 1728.

  Alexander stretched his limbs out, yawning as he did, trying to stave off the soreness from his battle with the boar from the day before. A plate sat on his desk, almost shiny despite the food that sat on it the night before. He felt only a little hungry and was ready to start making some money.

  The only problem was his lack of clothes to change into, only able to wash his overcoat with nothing intermediary.

  Leonard was waiting for him in the dining area, eating away at breakfast that his wife must have made for him. It wasn’t long before he finished up, and the two made their way to his shop.

  -

  The front room of the shop was pleasant, featuring a reception desk and seating areas along the walls for customers to wait.

  “I’ve got a bell on the door, so you should be able to tell when people come in. As for logging what they want - are you able to write?”

  Alexander nodded as he walked behind the desk, “Shouldn’t be a problem, no.”

  “Perfect, so just log anything they order for me, I’ll worry about the quotes for now.” He paused, seemingly thinking something over, before continuing, “I’ll be paying you out fourteen coppers a week, the usual being sixteen, until your debt is paid off. You should get some nicer clothes with the extra money.”

  “Alright,” Alexander said, feeling a little embarrassed about the state of his clothing.

  With that, Alexander simply sat at his desk while Leonard went into the back of the shop, where Alexander assumed the workshop to be.

  Not long had passed after they opened before the first customer made their way in. The customer was an average height man, his hair dark and his eyes green, looking only a little older than Alexander.

  His eyes narrowed when he caught sight of Alexander sitting at the desk. As his eyes reached Alexander's blindfold, he suddenly tripped, one leg catching the other, landing face-first on the floor, not even moving his arms out fast enough to brace his fall.

  Standing up and not trying to laugh, Alexander called out, “Are you alright? What happened?”

  The young man stood, dusting off his nice pants before responding, “I just got a little distracted. Where’s Leonard?” His gaze was averted, his head turned towards a wall, not meeting Alexander’s face, likely out of embarrassment.

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  “I’m working the front desk now, my name’s Alexander, how can I help you?”

  “Not to be rude,” he sighed, “But I really do need to talk to Leonard directly.”

  Alexander was a little annoyed that he couldn’t be of use to his first customer, but obliged anyway, making his way to the back room where the workshop was.

  He opened the door, but paused, in shock at the sight ahead of him. Leonard was faced away from him, his large, hairy arms positioned outwards, his hands forming a cup.

  Floating just above those hands was a globule of liquid metal, rippling and changing form, as if it were being controlled by Leonard’s mind.

  No, it was being controlled by his mind. He was forming the ball of liquid metal into another object, the burning heat seemingly unremarkable to him.

  “Someone’s here to-”

  The liquid globule fell into Leonard's cupped hands, making Alexander wince at what was about to come. But nothing did; instead, the liquid seemed to instantly solidify, forming itself back into a solid cube as Leonard turned to listen to what Alexander had to say.

  “What’s up?”

  Alexander didn’t respond as Leonard made his way over to the door, his mind a little shaken at the sight he had just seen. He looked over Alexander's shoulder, a smile forming as he saw the man standing behind him.

  “Ah, Luke! I was actually just finishing up the guard for your piece. Want to watch?”

  “I’d love to.” He walked past Alexander, making his way into the workshop and leaning against a wall, ready to watch.

  “What happened to your face?”

  “Nothing, I just tripped.”

  “You? You tripped?” Leonard said, bewilderment lacing his voice.

  Alexander spoke, not able to stave off the curiosity coursing through his mind, “Do you mind if I watch too?”

  It was quiet for a moment, the silence palpable.

  “Or I mean, not watch, but hang around?”

  He felt awkward lying and was obviously not the best at it.

  “No, I don’t mind, just make sure you listen out for the door.”

  He cupped his hands again as the metal block began to liquify before their eyes, floating into the air above his hands as it did. After a few long moments, it began to take shape again, forming itself into a long, thin guard of a sword. It had no design, but the speed at which it formed was almost unimaginable.

  He let the guard fall back into his hands before walking over to a work table, the table covered in an assortment of tools that Alexander did not know of.

  Luke walked over with him, hanging over his shoulder and keeping a close eye on the work being done, “I can never get over how fast you’re able to work, Leonard.”

  “It is my life's craft. Being at the third stage does help a lot, though.”

  Unaware of what he meant, and having heard something similar before, Alexander questioned, “Third stage?”

  Leonard looked over in surprise, “Yeah, of my Authority. What’s confusing?”

  “I genuinely have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Did they teach you nothing under that dome?”

  Luke’s eyes narrowed.

  “Well, you have your Authority that you were born with, and as life goes on, things may happen to give you additions to your Authority; each of those is a stage. The one I was born with makes me resistant to heat, and the second stage lets me heat up and form metal.”

  Thinking Leonard’s Authority was rather nice to him comparatively, Alexander asked, “And what about the third?”

  He smiled, “That’s a secret of the trade.”

  After carving out a single design into the guard, he went to another nearby table, pulling a large cloth off of it. Hidden under the cloth was a beautiful one-handed blade. The blade was thin and long, with gold inlays, looking as if it were crafted for a king.

  After connecting the guard and handle to the blade, he polished it up and handed it over to Luke.

  He weighed it in his hand, seemingly finding it satisfactory.

  “It’s perfect, thank you, Leonard. I’ll make sure to put it to good use.”

  Luke paused before leaving the workshop, turning his body towards Alexander and sticking his hand out, though his head was still averted. “And it was nice to meet you, Alexander.”

  Leonard, who was watching, spoke up, a snicker in his voice, “He’s trying to shake your hand. And Luke, why don’t you look him in the eye as you talk to him? His lack of sight isn’t contagious.”

  Luke slowly turned his head, his eyes meeting Alexander’s blindfold, his hand seeming to falter in the air before Alexander reached out to shake it.

  “Nice to meet you, too, Luke.”