Serving A Slice Of Humble Pie

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 21, Post Number 518

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, Guild Mistress' Office-

Wearing her green, white, and gold outfit with Argent Gloves, Leona sat in her office sifting through an old-fashioned paper catalog of dresses from a specialty shop in Capital Crocus named The Elegant Dress, which specialized in dresses for women. Nothing she saw really interested her. Another deterrence to picking a dress was the price tag attached to what The Elegant Dress offered. Each and every item cost in the five-figure range, but more importantly none of them were made of the Celestial fabric that her blue-and-white outfit was made of.

Thinking about all the incidents in the past where her clothing had been damaged, sometimes in rather inconvenient places, Leona wanted something made of Celestial fabric in case she got into yet another situation where her clothing stood to get damaged. Maybe she should contact Ruvel, that miracle worker who always came to the Wizard Saint's rescue right when she needed him the most. He could come up with a dress that both fit her and was made of the miracle fabric that could repair itself after sustaining any tear or cut. Leona found that option to be appealing, but she was reluctant to commit because Ruvel was a good guy and she did not want to drive him away by seeming like she only wanted to use him as a source of new clothing. Leona would have to think such a decision over before committing either way.

Leona set aside the catalog and turned her attention to a knock at the door. She stood up and walked over to the door, opening it to find a bespectacled older female staff member with a letter in her right hand.

"We just received this letter for you, Guild Mistress. It's from someone named Athena, who belongs to... The Order of Lightbringers. They're the ones who provided us with some up-to-date books on the denizens of the Cursed Lands." The woman informed Leona. Leona instantly recognized the name. They were an order of holy warriors she had worked with several times in the past and the source of her Silver Longsword.

"I'll take it. Thank you." Leona said. The staff member handed over the letter and closed the door behind her. Leona walked back to her desk and sat down before carefully opening the letter with a letter opener. She carefully removed the letter and began to read it.

"Dear Leona,

We need your help with one of our members. Her name is Minerva Anderson and she's the descendant of one of our order's oldest families. Minerva's gifted in the magic arts and skilled with a blade, but her ego is... enormous. She's also determined to prove that she's as good as her ancestors; she's reckless enough to take on an entire cult by herself without waiting for backup. She's done well in fighting cultists and minor demons so far, but success has gone to her head and she feels that she's strong enough to defeat an Infernal Guardian by herself. We'd like to prove her wrong before she gets into a battle with a demon she doesn't have a chance against.

If you're able to help us, please come to the Order of Lightbringers headquarters as soon as possible. Feel free to bring weapons and armor because you'll need them.

Sincerely,

Athena"

Leona gently folded the letter up and put it away in a desk drawer. She recalled the mention of an Infernal Guardian and shuddered at the memory of the giant bipedal demon with glowing green eyes that stomped an Order knight into crimson paste and burned her with unholy magic. It took almost fifty Order knights and all the Clerics of a specially selected force just to stop four of them when the demonic incursion in Fat Monsterland took place. Minerva would not be ready to face the hellish might of an Infernal Guardian for a long time. Leona herself did not want to face them again any time soon, not without a lot of backup.

Leona quickly wrote a message to be put on her door in case her Aces, staff, or guild members needed her and then taped it to her office door. Leona then walked briskly to her room to get her Silver Longsword. It was the weapon she was most accustomed to using and it would not be too harmful to Minerva since it did not have any special magical properties. Once she had gotten her weapon of choice she left the guild hall and set out for the Holy Castle to help the Order convince Minerva that she was not ready to fight one of demonkind's heavy hitters by herself.

[Post Word Count: 784]
[Total Word Count: 784/3,500]

-Holy Castle, Order of Lightbringers headquarters-

Landing about 100 meters outside the Holy Castle, Leona dismounted the Winged Lion that had ferried her here and dispelled it, then smoothed out her skirt before walking towards the castle and towards Athena, the redheaded Cleric who wielded a long magic spear that glimmered in the midday sun. She must have been waiting on the Wizard Saint because the blonde had barely taken twenty steps towards Holy Castle when Athena walked briskly towards her with a look on her face that screamed exhaustion and frustration in equal measure. Athena quickly raised a hand in greeting and began speaking to Leona seconds before the Wizard Saint could reach the Cleric.

"...Anderson's insufferable! Unlike her younger sister Serena, Minerva's absolutely insufferable! She won't listen to anyone!" Athena complained to the Wizard Saint. Leona could tell that the redhead was about to boil over at any moment. The blonde simply raised a hand in greeting and let the frazzled Cleric speak her mind.

"I spend hours trying to teach her some advanced spells of Holy Magic and she thinks that she knows all of it already! I grant that she is rather skilled with the magic and picks it up a lot faster than most of the Order's members, but that's no excuse to neglect training! None at all! I mean, even someone like you has to train and exercise to remain strong, but I can't get her to see that no matter how hard I try!" Athena continued to fume to Leona, who was not quite sure what to make of the whole situation. It was clear that the Order mage was encountering a lot of problems with "Minerva" and trying to teach the headstrong young mage more of the Order's type of Holy Magic.

"Um, Athena, maybe we should go-" Leona started before she was cut off by the redhead resuming her rant with renewed vigor.

"I don't get it, Leona. I really don't. I mean I spend hours outside of class trying to get through to Minerva, but she won't listen! She just tunes me and Amanda out whenever we try to tell her anything! I get so tired of dealing with that day in and day out and if it weren't for Father Morris personally asking me to tutor Minerva I would've given up on this errand weeks ago!" Athena continued to rant. Leona continued to listen but wanted to go inside and meet this "Minerva Anderson" for herself. However, Athena was not in the mood to listen and was not calming down any time soon. The blonde could do nothing but wait for the next bout of ranting to begin.

"Athena, don't you think we should go and-" Leona managed to get a few words in before she was cut off by the frustrated Athena.

"I'm tired of this, Miss Jarnefeldt, I really am! Minerva Anderson is stubborn and willful and refuses to listen to anyone who tries to teach her! If I'd been half as stubborn during my training I would've been kicked out of the Order before you could say Malleus Maleficarum!" Athena raged, tapping the blunt end of her spear on the ground for emphasis. Leona was starting to get a little frazzled herself. She wanted to get to the point of the vist but every pause in the "conversation" only gave Athena a chance to expend more of her vitriol and waste more of Leona's time.

"Athena, please! Let's just go inside the castle and sort out the problem!" Leona finally said what she had been trying to say. Athena heard the plea and finally calmed down enough to stop her angry ranting and focus on the reason she called Leona here to begin with.

"Oh, sorry about that, Leona! I've wasted enough of your time, so let's go inside so that you can meet Minerva and try to get through to her!" Athena apologized before spinning on her heels and walking towards the castle. Leona jogged to her side and followed the redhead towards the doors of Holy Castle.

-Inside Holy Castle, the training room-

Leona followed her hostess through the castle and past groups of Knights and Clerics to the training room, which was a square room with various training dummies and weapons on wooden racks. Inside the room were Jessica the Order Knight and another young woman who was wearing silver armor over a red-and-white outfit with a red-and-white cape. The sound of metal meeting metal filled the room as Jessica raised her hammer to block the downward descent of the armored young woman's longsword. Jessica pushed the longsword away and turned towards Leona with a smile.

"Oh hey Leona! I guess you got Athena's message!" Jessica said to Leona.

"I got the message and I spoke with Athena. So, what's going on?" Leona asked Jessica. Jessica was about to answer when the armored mage interrupted the pair.

"So you're the one they call Leona Jarnefeldt, the Wizard Saint of Courage. I'm Minerva Anderson and I'm your opponent!" The armored mage confidently introduced herself.

Minerva Anderson:

[Post Word Count: 851]
[Total Word Count: 1,635/3,500]

-Order of Lightbringers HQ, Training Room, ten minutes later-

Leona and Minerva Anderson faced each other at opposite ends of the training room that was to serve as their dueling arena. Diana, Amanda, Jessica, and Athena all took up places along the walls of the training room to serve as referees/medics. At least two dozen of the Order's newer members had also entered the room to watch the upcoming battle between one of the Order's up-and-coming mages and the Wizard Saint of Courage. In between the numerous spectators and the four Order members she knew, Leona felt like she was going to be judged as much as Minerva was. Maybe the Order of Lightbringers wanted to see what spells Leona could use so that they would know how to defeat her should they perceive her as turning against them.

No matter. If they had read Sorcerer's Magazine they would have already known what she could do. They would get a firsthand demonstration of her magic soon enough.

Minerva had taken off her cape and handed it to Diana but still wore her armor because she expected a tough fight from her opponent. Leona took off the scabbard of her Silver Longsword and handed it to Jessica, who took it and took her place against the left wall. Amanda the green-clad Cleric stood between the two opponents and laid down the ground rules.

"The combatants are allowed to use any weapons and magic they have to win. This match will continue until one combatant is knocked unconscious or surrenders. If either combatant signals their surrender by putting down their weapon and raising both hands, the other party must accept it." Amanda laid down the rules. Leona and Minerva remained silent during her speech and a mood of tension soon formed. Both mages were eager to see what the other was capable of and whether they lived up to their respective reputations. Minerva wanted to see if Leona really was a Wizard Saint or just a paper tiger. Leona wanted to see if Minerva really was as skilled as Athena had touted her to be.

Minerva brandished her sword in a salute and Leona followed suit. The pair then turned away from each other, walked ten paces, and turned to face each other simultaneously. Amanda backed away three paces and held her left hand up.

"Are both combatants ready to begin?" Amanda asked the rhetorical question.

"Ready!" Minerva declared.

"Ready!" Leona echoed. Amanda took three more steps back and dropped her left hand.

"BEGIN!" Amanda called out. A glowing yellow magic barrier went up to shield the audience from the combatants and flickered out of view. Leona could only see a brief flash of yellow from the barrier, but she had other concerns now.

That signal was what both mages were waiting for. Leona and Minerva rushed towards each other with weapons held in two-handed grips. They met each other in the center of the arena and their blades clashed to the awed silence of the watching Order members.

Leona and Minerva engaged in a blade lock and jockeyed for position, leaning forward and leaning back as the momentum shifted from one combatant to the other. The blade lock continued until Leona saw the armored mage shift to a one-handed grip and draw back her left fist to punch the Wizard Saint and break the stalemate. Having both used that tactic herself and been on the receiving end of it, Leona knew what to expect and shifted to a one-handed grip herself, using the forearm of her free left hand to block the punch aimed at her face.

"Not bad, Miss Jarnefeldt!" Minerva complimented Leona. The pair jumped back from each other and quickly thought of another way to get through their adversary's defense. Leona looked at her opponent and could tell that she used Holy Magic because of her mysterious ability to determine a mage's magic type just by looking at them. Minerva's magic signature was as strong as Theo Silversong's, so she was not to be underestimated.

Minerva wordlessly held a glowing hand high and swiped down at Leona, sending a trio of yellow crescents in the Wizard Saint's direction. Leona spotted them and sidestepped to the far left, but Minerva had disappeared in a "flash step" and soon appeared in front of the Wizard Saint. A startled Leona had just enough time to duck under the right-to-left horizontal slash before Minerva kicked at her face. The Wizard Saint raised her left forearm to block the armored foot and stopped it from hitting her face, the foot making a CLANG against her Argent Glove and nearly knocking her down.

"I've got you!" Minerva triumphantly shouted, bringing her sword down in a one-handed chop. Leona brought up her Silver Longsword and blocked, then used her left hand to cast a Wind Blast that staggered the surprised mage, who was not expecting a spell to be cast so quickly. Minerva soon recovered her footing and faced Leona again.

"I may have sold you short, Miss Jarnefeldt. That won't happen again." Minerva promised. She then pointed the palm of her left hand towards Leona and fired a ball of light that hit the blonde in the chest, sending her staggering back four steps. Leona should have known better than to stand still, but Minerva had some quick spells of her own. Not content to simply sling spells, Minerva flashed out of existence again to take the fight to Leona and Leona looked around for the swordswoman to materialize in her face.

Minerva appeared and started to swing her sword in another horizontal slash. Leona stepped back to avoid it and Minerva brought up her left hand to fire a beam of light from her palm. The surprised Wizard Saint stumbled left and narrowly avoided it, but the Order mage pressed her attack by rushing Leona and punching her in the face. Leona staggered back and prepared to fire a Wind Bullet in retaliation, but Minerva was in her face before the spell could be finished. Leona drew back her left hand to avoid losing it to Minerva's flashing sword and hit back with a Mach Straight to the face that connected when the Order swordswoman got too close and missed a grab on Leona's left arm.

"You hit hard, Miss Jarnefeldt!" Minerva gave another compliment, wiping her bottom lip.

"So do you." Leona gave a compliment in return. The two combatants separated and sized each other up again. The initial sparring was over and the big-ticket spells were about to fly.

[Post Word Count: 1,098]
[Total Word Count: 2,733/3,500]

So far Minerva was good enough to live up to what Athena had said about her. She was fast enough to catch the opponent flat-footed and press her advantage before the opponent could react. She was skilled with both the sword and her magic. Leona wanted to close in and end the fight before Minerva really got going, but remembering what happened the last time she underestimated an opponent, the Wizard Saint ignored that instinct and studied the opposition instead. Leona noticed that the armor Minerva wore was fairly thick; she certainly could not punch straight through it, so any hand-to-hand attacks would have to be aimed at the face.

Minerva raised her left hand and channeled golden magic into it, then fired off a spray of small energy bolts in a shotgun blast. Leona ducked under a bolt that flew over her head and saw that Minerva had vanished again, meaning that she was due to pop up in the Wizard Saint's face at any moment. Taking a chance to trade a hit for a hit, Leona stood up, shifted her weapon to her left hand, channeled magic into her right fist, and punched the ground to release a Storm Impact. As expected Minerva reappeared in front of Leona and successfully kicked her in the face during the use of Storm Impact, but in return she was staggered by the expanding dome of wind, giving Leona the opportunity to deal another good hit before Minerva recovered.

Channeling magic into her right arm, Leona hurried in and used a Hurricane Punch aimed at the Order mage's face to try and end the fight quickly. All twelve of the punches hit Minerva in the face and the mage was rendered dizzy by the rapid punches, causing the spectators to gasp. They had never seen the rising star of the Order on the ropes like this and were taking interest in what was happening. As if unwilling to lose like this in front of her peers and teachers, Minerva's body glowed gold and she snapped out of the dizziness... she must have used an Order spell to restore her focus so that she could at least fight to the finish.

"This isn't over!" Minerva angrily declared. Leona saw her sword begin to flash gold and Minerva swung it downward, firing a crescent of golden energy that moved so quickly that Leona could not react in time. It hit Leona's right shoulder and tore a deep gash in her outfit, but that was the least of her worries. Minerva closed the distance with another "flash step" and made a diagonal downward swing at Leona, who stepped back to avoid it. Leona parried another one and stepped to the left just in time for Minerva to fire another shotgun blast of Holy magic that grazed the Wizard Saint's right shoulder and stung where two of the small bolts hit.

Leona retaliated by aiming and firing a Wind Bullet that hit Minerva in the chest and sent her flying to the back of the arena. While Minerva stood up the Wizard Saint followed up by putting her left index and middle fingers together and charging a Silver Tempest to finish the fight. Then Minerva clenched her teeth and did something surprising. She did not even bother to "flash step" but instead ran directly at Leona, which was the mistake that would end this match.

Leona aimed and fired the Silver Tempest spell, hitting the Order mage in the chest and disorienting her to the point she staggered to a stop and almost fell down. She dropped to a knee and used her free hand to clutch and steady her head. She willed herself to get up, but this time she could not find the willpower to force herself to snap out of the disorientation. Leona was not sure whether to fire another spell or hold off because Minerva was clearly unable to fight back. The Wizard Saint opted to hold off and witnessed the Order mage put her weapon on the ground and raise both hands in surrender.

"I surrender. I can't win... not today." Minerva said aloud, conceding defeat to the Wizard Saint. The room remained silent. It was like they were unable to comprehend Minerva losing to anyone and did not fully understand what had happened.

[Post Word Count: 723]
[Total Word Count: 3,456/3,500]

-Outside Holy Castle, thirty minutes later-

"That was a good match, Leona. I wouldn't expect anything less from the Wizard Saint of Courage." Athena praised Leona for her victory. Jessica was quick to add her two Jewels' worth to the conversation.

"Yeah! I think you were holding back on purpose, but you still kicked Minerva's ass!" The boisterous red-clad Knight chimed in. Recalling what had brought her here, Leona gave her take on the match.

"I don't think I really taught her anything because it wasn't exactly a fair match. I'm a Wizard Saint, one of several of the most powerful mages in all of Earthland. She was a few levels below me in terms of magic power." Leona opined on the mismatch. However, Minerva had held her own and even briefly held the advantage before she abandoned whatever plan she had made and rushed in recklessly. Athena shook her head.

"The point of you dueling her was to get Minerva to take her training seriously. I think her losing to you will make her do just that. You see, she doesn't like losing to anyone, so she'll train and train until she thinks she's ready to take you on again. Then she'll challenge you to a rematch." Athena explained the real point of Leona's visit to the Order headquarters. It was then that the blonde finally understood what Athena meant by teaching Minerva a lesson. The point of it all was not to directly teach the headstrong mage something. Losing to Leona would motivate the Order mage to take her training more seriously, if only to get strong enough to give Leona an even greater challenge than she did today.

"Minerva will take things a lot more seriously from now on. It might not be the best way to teach someone, but kicking her ass will show her what happens when you get too cocky!" Jessica chimed in with her usual enthusiasm. Leona refrained from commenting because it took getting her own ass kicked and nearly thrown over a mountain by Dark mages plus a conversation with Luna Mira before she finally learned to slow down and fight with more than just her body and magic. Leona was learning to slow down and fight with her mind as well as with her body and magic.

"Well, I'm glad that I could help you guys out. Will Minerva be OK?" Leona asked the pair about the condition of her opponent. She was not sure if she had went too far with using Hurricane Punch and Silver Tempest in the duel, but Amanda did say that all magic was permitted.

"Minerva will be fine. Her ego's hurt a lot more than her body was. She'll recover in a day's time." Athena answered cheerfully as if she were glad to witness the headstrong mage's defeat. Again Leona kept silent because she knew what it was like to go through an event that badly hurt one's ego. She knew exactly where Minerva was coming from.

"Minerva will be back on her feet in no time. I wouldn't worry too much about her." Jessica added with the same amount of cheer one would feel after winning the lottery. Leona clearly saw the pleasure that Jessica took from Minerva's defeat and did not comment. Instead she let the matter drop and focused on what she needed to do to get ready for the auction of Maison D'Everett wine in a little over two days. She still needed a dress and she still needed to take etiquette classes to better fit in with Capital Crocus' elite.

"We'd better get back to the Order headquarters because evil never sleeps. Thanks again for your help, Leona!" Athena said before she and Jessica walked back towards the Holy Castle. Leona waved at them until the castle doors closed, then called out her Winged Lion summon and climbed aboard. Moments later she was airborne and on the way back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall to get ready for the auction and to deal with whatever paperwork had accumulated in her absence.

[Post Word Count: 681]
[Total Word Count: 4,137/3,500]