Meeting Mr. Bank

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 10, Post Number 232

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, Leona's Room, 6:00 A.M.-

Lying awake on her bed, Leona wore her green tank top and her green, white, and gold skirt as she tried to muster the energy to get up. She had spent half the night staring at the ceiling and thinking about what she had done wrong during the skirmish with Pergrandian soldiers. There was a lot that she had done wrong, but one of her mistakes was standing still while fighting the Pergrandian soldiers in white. Thanks to her poor decision-making they were able to inflict a few hits on the Wizard Saint with their weapons and give her more trouble than they should have given her. There was no excuse for Leona to have stood still and traded shots with them even though she had summons attack from the air to compensate for being outnumbered.

Leona had fared a lot better against the soldiers in black wielding assault rifles. She had kept moving and had used her summons early to take some of the pressure off of her while thinning out their numbers with Armor-Piercing Shots with her Ranger Laser Rifle. She only took a few grazing shots to her armor and avoided any serious injury.

Against the soldiers dressed in knightly armor and wielding broadswords Leona had done fairly well, but she had made the mistake of getting tunnel vision and losing situational awareness while dealing with one of the Pergrandian soldiers wearing knightly armor and paid for it when the other slammed into her left side and sent her flying five meters. Their armor was strong against both magic and weapons, so Leona had to rely on a combination of Swift Palms, Mach Straights, Mach Uppercuts, Tornado Kicks, attacks from Guardian Lion, Griffin, and Tempest Avian, and her knife Ses Revanche to defeat them.

The hooded soldier was the toughest of all. They were incredibly tough and could literally laugh off Leona's spells, even Wind Strike Magic's high-powered spells that were provided even more power by her Gale Force ability. The were also able to withstand physical attacks, but those worked slightly better against the soldier than did magic. Leona had to use quite a few of her magic-enhanced melee strikes to wear the soldier down enough to kill them with Ses Revanche rammed into their forehead.

Leona had thought about the skirmish and knew that the fault for her underwhelming performance in the early stages was hers and hers alone. Leona had never faced enemies using modern, fully automatic weapons before and the shock of that had affected her. She had recovered and had dispatched them with a combination of her Ranger Laser Rifle and her summons, but their weapons allowed Pergrande's common soldiers to seriously threaten mages who were not ready to face that kind of firepower. It was a good thing that Leona had geared up like she did or she would have been in very deep trouble.

Speaking of gear, all of her gear had performed flawlessly. Her SHG-IV Smart Glasses, her Adaptable Armor, her Ranger Laser Rifle, and Ses Revanche had all performed their roles without a hitch. Leona could not blame her equipment for her underwhelming early performance because all of it was the very best gear she could bring to the table. Her Ranger Laser Rifle was the most valuable item she had brought to the skirmish, but her Adaptable Armor was a very close second. Without having the Ranger Laser Rifle to level the playing field against gun-wielding soldiers and the Adaptable Armor to protect her from Pergrandian bullets Leona would be either dead or being treated for multiple gunshot wounds in a hospital right now.

Leona's thoughts turned to the Ranger Laser Rifle.

It was a powerful weapon with good range, a good rate of fire, and the ability to punch through body armor thanks to its Armor-Piercing Shot ability, but something about it felt off. Part of it was waiting to use it until she was actually on the battlefield. The other part was the fact that Leona was not a gunslinger by trade. She used magic in conjunction with a melee weapon and had little experience wielding firearms.

She recalled her brother Leonidas suggesting several months ago that she find and acquire a pistol since it was better-suited for her fighting style than a rifle. Perhaps Mister Burke could help her acquire a good laser pistol. However, that would have to wait because a manila envelope was slipped under her door. She caught the sound of paper scraping against the wooden floor and knew that there was no point in lying in bed any longer.

Leona slowly sat up, swung her feet around to the left side of her bed, and got to her feet. She then straightened out her shirttail and skirt before walking over to the envelope and picking it up. She walked over to her desk, pulled out the chair, and opened the manila envelope. Inside was a brief letter with perfect handwriting addressed to "The Wizard Saint of Courage."

Leona began to read it.

"Dear Wizard Saint of Courage:

My name is Mr. Bank and I live in the Neutral Grounds. I've heard a lot about you and have an offer of employment for you, but I'd prefer to discuss the details at my home. I've included detailed instructions on how to find my home and how to get into it. Don't keep me waiting."

The neatly written letter read. Leona set the letter down and searched the manila envelope again, finding another sheet of paper inside. On it were neatly written instructions on how to get to Mr. Bank's home and how to get into it. Written below the instructions was a password she would need to give at the front door to be granted entry.

Leona stood up from her desk, pushed the chair in, and began preparations to take a shower. Once she finished doing that she would get dressed, gather some gear, and get ready for a trip to the Neutral Grounds. Since she could not use magic to defend herself, selecting the right gear to take would be very important. Leona doubted that anyone would dare attack her because of her reputation, but she never knew when someone looking to make a name for themselves by killing a current Wizard Saint would try to attack her in a place where she literally could not use magic. That was a situation where carrying weapons was prudent... Leona would carry both her Ranger Laser Rifle and a knife since openly carrying the rifle was sufficient to deter most attackers and even without magic abilities a sharp knife was still a deadly weapon.

Still, she hoped that she would not have to use them in the Neutral Grounds.

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-The Neutral Grounds, outside Mr. Bank's home, 9:00 A.M.-

Wearing her green, white, and gold outfit with Argent Gloves on her hands, backpack of supplies on her back, Ranger Laser Rifle slung on her right shoulder, and the knife her brother had made for her stashed in her right boot, Leona had arrived on the outskirts of the Neutral Grounds on the back of Winged Lion roughly fifteen minutes ago. She followed the directions in the letter and was now standing outside a large, gray eight-floor building with a decidedly austere look. There was no decoration to be seen, only a stark, imposing, and industrial exterior that loomed tall over visitors. Leona was not particularly intimidated because she had recently survived a clash with Pergrandian soldiers... besides, Sombras Manor and Haunted Castle were a lot more intimidating than Mr. Bank's home.

Holding the instructions with the password in her right hand, Leona walked towards the front entrance, which was a large, heavy and dull gray metal door that looked so sturdy that nothing short of anti-tank munitions could even dent it. Once she stopped in front of the door she noticed an intercom grille to the right of the door and walked over to it. The moment she stopped a male voice challenged her.

"Password?" The voice asked. Leona looked down at the password written on the paper and leaned over to the grille.

"Scientia potentia est." Leona read the password into the grille.

"Very good, Wizard Saint. You may enter." The voice told her. Moments later the thick metal door lifted up and exposed a pair of thick wooden double doors. Leona walked over to them, put her hand on the right doorknob, and twisted it, then went inside.

-Inside Mr. Bank's home-

Leona shut the wooden door behind her and the thick metal door slid down into place over the doors, sealing Leona in and keeping further visitors out. Leona looked around her and saw that she was standing in a rather large foyer that opened onto an equally large area that looked a lot like a hotel lobby. It was every bit as austere as the outside of the home was. There was no decoration of any kind save for immaculate beige wallpaper, the occasional brown leather sofa, and a red carpet with gold borders lying beneath her feet and covering a small section of bare gray marble tile floor.

"I trust that your trip to the Neutral Grounds was not too difficult. Now that you're here, I'd like for us to discuss the business that I've called you here for." The voice said to her. At the far end of the lobby elevator doors opened onto a stark gunmetal gray elevator that could accommodate at least ten people.

"I'd like for you to take that elevator, Wizard Saint. Don't worry about selecting a floor once you're inside. I'll take you straight to my office." The voice instructed her. Leona obeyed and began walking towards the elevator until she was standing inside of it. Once she was inside the door closed.

-Inside the elevator-

Leona stood inside the elevator and looked to the right of the door to see a standard control panel with all the usual buttons. She stood in the center of the elevator and felt it began to move. She looked at the small screen above the control panel and noticed that the elevator was going all the way to the top. Even though she was the only one in the elevator she could not help but to feel cramped like she was standing in an upright coffin.

-On the eighth floor-

A minute later the elevator door opened up to a large office space with a single wooden desk and a large blank screen towering above the desk. A large red carpet with gold borders led the path from the elevator to the office. With nowhere else to go, Leona stepped off of the elevator and walked towards the desk.

As she walked she looked around and saw wooden bookshelves on both sides of the room filled with books arranged perfectly by size. She stole a glance behind her and saw another bookshelf filled with perfectly arranged books. The Wizard Saint could not help but to notice that everything was in perfect order, suggesting that Mr. Bank was an orderly person. There was also no other decoration whatsoever... there were no pictures, no framed diplomas, certifications, or degrees, nothing to suggest the space belonged to someone. She reached the desk and looked towards the monitor, expecting someone to greet her or for instructions to flash on the screen.

Leona waited patiently and was soon greeted by the image of a man's face looking at her. He had black hair, a neatly groomed mustache, and wore a nice suit and tie... at least from what she could see from the neck down, which was not very much. The Wizard Saint took a step back and an amused chuckle sounded.

"The Wizard Saint of Courage, huh? Perhaps that is a misnomer if the mere image of my face can startle you." The male voice greeted her. Leona recovered from the surprise and kept her mouth shut despite her indignation. She was just surprised, that was all. It was not every day that a green and black face popped up on a monitor.

"Anyway, I'll get a chance to test your mettle soon enough. But before I do, allow me to introduce myself in a little more detail. I am Mr. Bank. My first name isn't important." The voice introduced himself as the same Mr. Bank who had sent her the letter.

"I'm a billionaire who has contracted your services. I've heard and read that the Wizard Saints are supposed to be Fiore's best mages, but I've never met one until today. I do hope that your performance on the task I'm about to assign you is better than my first impression of you." Mr. Bank told her, using a tone of mild disappointment in the last sentence. Again Leona kept her mouth shut despite her indignation. She tried to hide it, but her effort must not have been good enough because Mr. Bank spoke to her.

"I can see it in your eyes, Wizard Saint. You want to prove me wrong. You want to prove to me that you've earned your title. That's good. You're not just a run-of-the-mill mage with a grand title because you've got something to prove." Mr. Bank noted approvingly. Leona could not disagree with that. She had done a lot over her career, but she was always looking to prove to the world that she had earned her title many times over.

Mr. Bank:

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"You can say that I've got something to prove." Leona answered calmly. As a Wizard Saint, Leona could not afford to rest on her laurels. She had to keep moving forward and keep doing deeds that proved her worthy of being called the Wizard Saint of Courage. Mr. Bank chuckled again.

"I'm sure that you're raring to go, Wizard Saint, but before you dash off to perform another feat of derring-do to add to your undoubtedly impressive resume, allow me to tell you where you'll be going and what you're retrieving." Mr. Bank said in a patronizing tone.

"I'm listening." Leona replied.

"Good, because what I'm about to tell you is important. You'll be going to Silent Cemetery, a place that you're most likely familiar with by now. I need you to retrieve a package containing a very old and very valuable book that was meant to be delivered to me before a thief killed the courier and stole it. The book's a lot older than you are, which means it's very valuable." Mr. Bank informed her of where she was going and what she would be retrieving. Leona ignored the condescending tone he had used in the last sentence. She had been around rare and valuable books before and all of them were very valuable. She was not sure what he was getting at with that remark, but she let it slide for the sake of the job.

"What does this package look like?" Leona asked him. It was probably a dumb question, but it never hurt to ask in case there was something special about it like a distinctive logo, a distinctive color, or some other identifying mark.

"It's a plain brown package that's the standard size, Wizard Saint. It'll stand out in a cemetery. Trust me." Mr. Bank replied in a tone so full of barely concealed disdain that Leona could feel it. Her face turned red with embarrassment because it was a dumb question. It was not like courier services routinely made deliveries to Silent Cemetery. If she could not find a plain brown box in a cemetery, she might need to find another line of work.

"Before you ask, the company I hired to deliver the package told me that after its theft it had been taken to Silent Cemetery. Then it was no longer able to be tracked. I'm forced to assume that the thief found and removed the tracking tag." Mr. Bank preemptively answered Leona's next question the moment she opened her mouth. With that question answered, Leona was about to set out for Silent Cemetery when one last thought crossed her mind.

"Mr. Bank, if I get to Silent Cemetery, search high and low, and am still unable to find the package, what do you want me to do?" Leona asked him.

"If for some reason you can't find the package in the cemetery, I want you to return to me and let me know. You'll still be compensated for your time and effort." Mr. Bank answered, throwing in a jab at her competence with the first part of the first sentence. Leona ignored the jab. Despite her experience and determination to complete a job regardless of the risk, there were times when even a mage of her ability just could not pull a miracle out of her hat no matter how hard they tried. The most recent time was during a trip to Fat Monsterland to find and rescue a research team sent by Crocus Magicka University to that dangerous region. Despite her best efforts Leona could not find any living members of the team... she had found the team, but every last member was a zombie she had to kill and take ID cards from to take back to the University.

"Understood." Leona said to Mr. Bank. She had no more questions to ask of him, so it was time to get going. She turned to leave when he spoke to her one last time.

"Before you go, Wizard Saint, let me say one last thing. I've never been there myself, but Silent Cemetery isn't a place for the faint of heart. I do hope that you'll be careful out there." Mr Bank said to her in yet another statement that sounded like a jab at her competence. Leona was tempted to remain silent for fear of saying something that would alienate the client, but she decided to speak to him one last time before she left for Silent Cemetery.

"Thanks. I'll be careful." Leona said to him before walking towards the open elevator. Once she was inside the door shut and she was delivered to the first floor. From there she walked to the exit and opened the door.

-Outside Silent Cemetery, four hours later-

Landing ten meters outside the gates of Silent Cemetery on the back of Winged Lion, Leona hopped off of her faithful companion's back and dispelled him. She was glad to be standing on solid ground again. She was also glad to have her magic back. Leona took her Ranger Laser Rifle off of her shoulder and held it in her right hand as she prepared to go into Silent Cemetery to look for the package Mr. Bank had sent her to retrieve.

Leona was not sure why the thief would come all the way out here with the package when they could have just went into the Forgotten Deserts, ripped off the tracking tag, and disappeared into the sandy expanse for awhile before emerging days later with no one the wiser. Maybe the thief had been hired to steal the book from Mr. Bank by someone else and Silent Cemetery was the meeting place. Silent Cemetery was certainly not for the faint of heart, so its reputation could have been used as a way to discourage pursuit entirely... or to at least delay any agent Mr. Bank could hire long enough for the book to be given to the thief's client. However, the thief did not count on Mr. Bank hiring a Wizard Saint to pursue them.

Leona wondered why Mr. Bank had went to the trouble of hiring a Wizard Saint when he could hire any number of skilled freelance mages to retrieve the book. Then she took a moment to think and deduced that Mr. Bank had hired someone like her as means of sending a message. If anyone else stole from him after today they would be pursued by a Wizard Saint and that would send a very strong "don't mess with me" message to any would-be thieves. Leona had no evidence to support that belief, but she strongly suspected that was a reason he had hired her.

With that thought in mind Leona approached the gate, then once she reached it opened the right gate with her left hand. She walked through and closed the gate behind her.

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-Inside Silent Cemetery-

Having entered Silent Cemetery, Leona spun around and began looking for targets for her Ranger Laser Rifle in the moonlit cemetery. Leona looked around the immediate area and she did not see any zombies... well, any moving ones, anyway. She saw thirteen dead zombies lying on the ground with a hole in their heads from a gun of some kind, possibly a pistol. She began to walk down the path and none of the zombies got up to attack her, suggesting that they were really dead. Leona began looking for the package in case it had been dropped off here, but it was nowhere to be seen.

Of course it would not be hidden near the entrance. It would be way too easy for an agent of Mr. Bank to retrieve. The thief wanted to make it difficult to recover so that they stood a better chance of handing off the package to their client and receiving their pay.

Leona walked down the path until it reached a fork. From there she could choose between going left down a path lined with burial vaults and right down a path lined with rows of tombstones with glowing orange Lacrima lanterns sitting on the tombstone closest to the path every five meters. Leona looked down the left path and saw no signs of someone traveling through the area. She then looked right and saw a few dead zombies lying on the ground along with two dead zombie Dobermans. The thief had obviously been that way, so that was the way Leona would go.

-Down the right path-

Leona began walking down the lighted path while watching for more zombies or zombie Dobermans. She could hear faint barking in the distance, but it was too far away for her to have to worry about. Still, she kept an eye out for rotting dogs because her legs were unarmored and any wound to them could leave her in dire straits in a cemetery infamous for undead activity. Leona slowly made her way down the path and did not see any zombies rising from their graves to come after her. Maybe she had caught them on an off night.

Leona glanced at the tombstones and could not help but to wonder where she would be buried once she reached the end of her life. Her inevitable death was not something she liked to think about, but it was something she thought about nevertheless. Leona's career was a dangerous one, especially because she was a Wizard Saint. There were countless bandits, slavers, and Dark Mages in Earthland looking to gain a reputation boost by being the one to bring down a current Wizard Saint. Leona had successfully fended off all of her challengers so far, but there were still plenty of them out there and she was not getting any younger.

Leona pushed that subject out of her mind and began to look for the package that might be hidden among the tombstones. She looked down every row of tombstones to her right and checked in front of them and behind them, but the package was not here. There was an open gate at the end of the path where a dead zombie dog lay with its head facing down the path. Leona began walking towards it and listened out for trouble as she began to check the rows of tombstones to her left on the off chance it had been dropped off here.

Once Leona reached the end of the path she concluded that the package was not here, but she did not want to leave before she did a thorough sweep of the immediate area. Leona immediately turned around and began looking down the rows of tombstones to her left, which was now her right. She walked all two hundred meters of it or so and did not find the package, so now she knew it was definitely not in this section. Once at the end of the path Leona turned around and started walking for the gate at a brisk pace to make up for the time she spent searching this section of cemetery.

-In the next section of Silent Cemetery, fifteen minutes later-

Leona walked through the gate at the end of the path and saw another stretch of cemetery just like the one she had passed through, but this one had an active zombie who wore a black three-piece suit with a black top hat that had been ravaged by time. It was five meters in front of her and standing in the middle of the path when it noticed her, sounded a moan, and raised its arms. The zombie was five meters in front of Leona and closing, but Leona put an end to the threat by raising her laser rifle and firing a single shot to the head that connected and put it down. It fell to the ground and Leona looked around her for any more zombies that she might have missed when she first entered the area.

She did not hear any, but she still looked all around her, even turning and doing a 360-degree sweep so that she did not get surprised by the one zombie that knew enough not to moan and give itself away. She did not spot any zombies other than the one she had just taken down, so Leona faced forward again and began to slowly walk down the path while looking down the rows of tombstones to both her left and her right so that she could sweep the area in one pass instead of having to go back and forth and waste time that she might not have.

As Leona scoured the area she heard the barking from earlier get louder and closer. Leona stopped looking and raised her weapon in the direction the zombie dogs were most likely to come from. She waited for them to appear and soon spotted a small pack of six of them running towards her from one hundred meters away. Leona aimed for the head of the closest dog and fired a shot at it, missing it because it veered right at the last moment. She aimed again and fired, hitting it in the left shoulder and causing it to tumble forward while its packmates raced around it to get at the Wizard Saint.

Leona took a deep breath and aimed for another dog, aiming for its body instead of its head. She fired and it took a hit, yelping and falling backwards while its packmates weaved around it. The first dog she had shot recovered and rejoined the attack on the Wizard Saint, hurrying to rejoin its fellows before they could drag her down and eat all the good parts once she was brought down and killed. Unfortunately for them Leona was not going to be easy to kill.

First, they still had to cross roughly eighty meters of ground without getting killed. Second, Leona was packing a laser rifle, which meant that they had to weather laser shots until they could get into biting range. Third, she was being fueled by the prospect of preserving her reputation. She had survived a lot of challenges up to this point and she was not going to suffer the indignity of being mauled to death by zombie Dobermans if she had anything to say about it.

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Leona stood her ground against the incoming zombie Dobermans and fired at them with her Ranger Laser Rifle. Despite there being sixty meters between them and thus plenty of time to aim carefully the Wizard Saint was not hitting them very often because they were surprisingly difficult targets. They were much smaller targets than Pergrande's soldiers and were much faster too. Leona aimed carefully and fired a shot at one of the dogs, a dog missing its right ear and a good bit of the flesh from its right side, that missed by a good half-meter to the right. She clenched her teeth and aimed again, this time a little bit ahead of the target.

The shot hit the dog squarely in the chest. It yelped and flopped backwards, coming to a stop on its back and rolling onto its left side. The other four continued to close the distance as Leona took aim at a dog with most of the flesh missing from its hind legs and carefully led the target before squeezing the trigger. The carefully aimed shot missed when the dog suddenly veered right, causing Leona to frown. She might need to go to a target range to practice with the weapon after this job, but she did not want everyone to know that she was wielding a laser rifle just yet.

The dogs closed to fifty meters and Leona was growing impatient with her laser rifle. It was powerful enough to kill them in one shot, but getting that shot to hit was the trouble. Leona was having to fight the urge to use her magic because she had brought the laser rifle with the intention of using it as her main weapon for this job to conserve magic power for any tough enemies that she might encounter, but saving her magic power would not do her any good if she were dragged to the ground and killed by zombie Dobermans. Leona took a deep breath and aimed at another dog, a dog missing both ears and the flesh on the left side of its face. She aimed a little bit ahead of it and fired at its torso but ended up firing just above its shoulder and missing completely.

The Wizard Saint quickly aimed again and led the target a bit more this time. She fired at its chest and scored a hit, killing it in a single shot as the remaining three dogs closed to forty meters. Leona continued to aim and fire single shots to try and be as accurate as possible instead of falling back on "spray and pray" because she still had some distance between her and the dogs before she would have to resort to fully automatic fire. Fully automatic fire at this distance would make hitting the dogs a lot harder than it already was because of her mediocre marksmanship. Leona aimed at another dog and squeezed the trigger, missing it completely when it suddenly darted forward to avoid the shot.

The dogs were now at thirty meters and Leona's patience was wearing thin fast. She was trying to resist the urge to sling the rifle on her shoulders and just kill the dogs with magic, but she resisted that urge for a little bit longer. Leona aimed again at the target, a dog missing the skin from its hind legs, aiming for the chest and leading the target before squeezing the trigger. She fired and hit the dog in the chest, killing it in one shot. It yelped and skidded to a halt on its chest before laying still.

The last two dogs closed to within twenty meters of Leona, but now she was starting to learn how to hit small targets with her laser rifle. Leona carefully aimed the rifle and led the target, then fired a single shot that nailed a charging dog in the head in mid-stride and caused it to pitch forward and skid a meter before coming to a stop. Leona smiled a little. The last dog continued to charge until it was within ten meters of her.

At this point Leona opted to finish the last dog with her magic. She lowered the rifle to her right hip with her right hand and pointed her left index finger at the dog, formed a marble-sized ball of magic on her fingertip, and fired a Wind Bullet spell that connected with the dog's chest and killed it in a single shot. It fell to the ground and did not move again. Now that all the dogs were dead she could move on. Leona was pleased with herself for learning passable marksmanship on the fly, but at some point she would need formal training to bring out the full potential of the Ranger Laser Rifle.

Leona kept her laser rifle ready as she walked past and over the corpses of the zombie dogs she had just killed. The path was a straight one that led to an elaborate wrought iron gate with two angel statues flanking it. Leona began looking carefully for the package as she walked towards the gate. Once it was determined that the package was not in this section Leona briskly walked towards the angel statues and soon passed through the gate into the next section of Silent Cemetery.

-In the next section of Silent Cemetery-

Leona passed through the gate and found herself standing in a portion of cemetery almost exactly like the one she had just left, but lying in the middle of the path about twenty meters away was a human body. A pistol gleamed in the moonlight and in front of a tombstone a meter off to the right sat a square object. Standing about a meter away from the body was a zombie in a black three-piece burial suit staring off into the distance that was unaware of Leona's presence.

Leona glanced at the square object and began to walk as slowly as she could to sneak closer to the zombie so that she could increase her chances of making a headshot when it inevitably detected her. She suspected that the square object was the package she had been sent to find, but before she hurried to get it she looked around for more threats like more zombies waiting nearby or zombie Dobermans. So far she was not seeing any, but Leona still stayed focused as she approached the body. Leona listened out for zombies moaning or dogs barking, but the only thing she could hear was the wind picking up and the grass rustling.

The Wizard Saint took a deep breath and approached the body while keeping the laser rifle aimed at the head of the zombie. Leona got to within twelve meters of it before it slowly turned around, stared at her with milky white eyes, and raised its arms while moaning. Leona calmly stood her ground, steadied her aim, and fired a single shot that hit the zombie in the head and killed it where it stood. It fell backwards and landed on the ground, never to move again.

With the only zombie in the area dead Leona resumed approaching the body. She suspected that the zombie she had just killed had killed the person lying on the ground, so she was slow to approach the body in case it suddenly reanimated. Leona did not want to experience the unpleasant surprise of the "dead" person reanimating, grabbing her leg, and trying to bite her. There was no time limit attached to this mission, so she could afford to take her time and play it safe.

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With her laser rifle at the ready, Leona slowly and carefully approached the human body that was lying on its back and was finally able to get a closer look at it. The person had short brown hair and was wearing a black trenchcoat with brown dress pants, a bloodstained white shirt, a red tie, and brown dress shoes. There was nothing remarkable about their appearance aside from the fact that their throat had been chewed to a degree that made Leona shudder. Leona kept her distance and looked at the scene more closely.

It looked like something other than a zombie had been eating the man's throat. It looked like some of those zombie Dobermans had been gnawing on the throat too, but it was impossible to determine that for sure because of the numerous bite marks to the throat that mixed together. Besides, she was a Wizard Saint, not a coroner. All she knew was that the man was very, very dead. However, being dead did not prevent the bodies interred here from coming back to life at a moment's notice to walk the earth once again.

Leona turned her attention away from the man and towards the package lying in front of the tombstone a meter to his right. Keeping her distance from the body, Leona slowly and carefully made her way around it until she was standing in front of the tombstone. She then lowered the laser rifle, carefully bent down, and scooped up the plain cardboard box with her left hand. She stood up and examined the sides of the box to find a damaged place on the left side where a tag had once been before it was ripped off.

Leona examined the box further and found that the tape on top had been cut open, most likely with a knife. She slung her laser rifle on her right shoulder and held the bottom of the box with her left hand while opening the top with her right. The box came open without any trouble and Leona peered inside to find a thick and very old book with a blue cover. She was probably courting Mr. Bank's displeasure when she had opened the box further, so she quickly closed it up. She quickly closed it up and turned to leave the cemetery.

Leona got back on the path and could not help but to wonder if the man had anything special on him, like a note or some other information that could lead Mr. Bank to the thief's employer. However, she could not just leave the package she had traveled so far to get lying unattended. Even though she was alone in the cemetery and likely did not have to worry about any more thieves, she did not want to leave the package unattended in case more zombie Dobermans than she could fight showed up and she was forced to flee. Leona decided to think of a solution and soon came up with a solution to her problem.

Why not get a summon to hold it for her?

Leona summoned Sky Champion Rafale to hold the package for her. He appeared and brandished his energy blades.

"What would you ask of me?" Rafale asked Leona.

"I need you to hold this package for me while I check that body." Leona said to him. Rafale put away his weapons and took the package for her, holding it with both hands while she turned to walk towards the thief's body. Suddenly she heard a moan and the body began to shudder. Leona stopped where she was and watched the body slowly raise itself to a sitting position, then climb to its feet with jerky motions like someone moving a marionette.

"Look out, Leona!" Rafale warned Leona. The Wizard Saint stopped moving when she was two meters away from it and wordlessly raised her laser rifle to her right shoulder. She aimed for the head and waited for the new zombie to get up and face her. Once it stood up and turned to face her Leona fired a single shot to the forehead that brought it down, killing it for good this time.

Once the zombified thief was dead and lying on his back again Leona walked over to the body and began going through the pockets for any notes or other items that could be useful. She searched the pants pockets and did not find anything, not even spare pistol magazines. She turned her attention to the trenchcoat and searched its pockets too. Again Leona came up with nothing. Having exhausted those options, Leona even took off the man's shoes in case he had been clever and thought to hide a note in his shoes.

Leona found nothing. This thief was a professional who had committed everything about the job to memory and had left no evidence to link him to an employer. Any information that could incriminate his employer had died with him.

Having exhausted all her options and not wanting to waste any more time on a fruitless search for information that was not accessible anymore, Leona put the dead man's shoes back on and left him alone. She then turned to Rafale, who had patiently waited for her while holding Mr. Bank's package. It was time to go.

"C'mon Rafale. We're leaving." Leona said to the summon.

"Very well then. We will leave immediately." Rafale replied. Together Leona and Rafale began to head for the exit of Silent Cemetery with the package Mr. Bank had sent her to retrieve. It was going to be a long flight back to the Neutral Grounds, but with the package safely in the trusted hands of Rafale, the job was a simple matter of returning to the client's home and giving them the book. The four-hour flight to the Neutral Grounds was going to be the toughest part of the job.

-Outside Silent Cemetery, forty minutes later-

Leona and Rafale were now standing ten meters from the gates of Silent Cemetery, which was more than enough room to summon Winged Lion. Leona summoned her winged transport and climbed on board, then called to Rafale.

"We're about to take off for the Neutral Grounds, Rafale. Follow us and don't drop that package." Leona told the green-clad summon holding the package. He nodded and Leona turned to Winged Lion.

"We're going back to the Neutral Grounds." Leona informed Winged Lion of their destination. Winged Lion turned to face the path that led to the gates, got a running start, and flapped his wings a few times before taking off with Rafale following close behind. Leona was on her way to the Neutral Grounds to return the package to Mr. Bank and finish the job for which she had been hired.

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-The Neutral Grounds, Mr. Bank's House, the eighth floor-

With her legs and backside aching from the long return flight to the outskirts of the Neutral Grounds, Leona had made her way to Mr. Bank's house with the package in her hands. Once outside the house the protective metal door opened up to allow her to access the house proper before closing behind her. Once through the front door she then walked through the large foyer and into the elevator to Mr. Bank's office.

Once it had stopped at the top Leona stepped out of the elevator and found the green-and-black image of Mr. Bank staring at her from the large monitor placed above and behind the desk. Undaunted by the sight, she walked down the path marked by the red carpet and stopped short of the desk. Mr. Bank noticed the Wizard Saint and warmly greeted her.

"Ah, the conquering heroine returns! How was the trip to Silent Cemetery?" Mr. Bank asked her like a boss asking an employee how a vacation to Crescent Island had went.

"It wasn't too bad. There weren't too many zombies on this visit and the few I saw weren't any trouble. I had more trouble fighting a pack of zombie Dobermans that was wandering around." Leona replied. Mr. Bank laughed a little.

"I figured that such a place wouldn't stop you, Wizard Saint. Now tell me... did you happen to find the package that I sent you to retrieve?" Mr. Bank asked Leona in a businesslike tone. Gone was the caring employer who had greeted her moments ago. Leona held up the package so that he could see it and showed him the place where the tag had been ripped off by the thief.

"Excellent. I see that you found the package. Is the book still inside?" Mr. Bank asked another question. Leona opened the top of the package and showed him that the book was safely inside.

"The package had already been opened when I found it." Leona explained, hoping to avoid angering Mr. Bank by letting him know that the package was already opened when she had found it.

"I figured that it had been opened. Tell me... did you happen to find the thief?" Mr. Bank dismissed the fact that the package had been opened and instead inquired about the thief.

"Yes sir. I found him deep in Silent Cemetery in the same area where I found the package. He was dead when I found him.... a zombie had killed him. He came back to life moments after I claimed the package from what I think was the area he was supposed to drop it off for pickup." Leona replied and explained that the thief was dead when she finally found him. Mr. Bank hmmm'd in response.

"I take it that you put the reanimated thief down?" Mr. Bank asked in an emotionless voice. Leona nodded.

"And did you manage to find anything on him that tied him to an employer? Or were you so frightened by his reanimation did you not have enough presence of mind to do that?" Mr. Bank asked with jabs to Leona's courage and intelligence in the second question. Leona ignored the jabs and replied in a factual manner.

"I searched the man's coat pockets, pants pockets, and even his shoes, but I didn't find anything. No notes, no numbers, nothing to incriminate his employer." Leona replied. Mr. Bank sighed. Leona hoped that he was not upset with her for being unable to learn the identity of the thief's employer. Mr. Bank was clearly hoping that the Wizard Saint could find out who had hired the thief, but unfortunately she could not get that information because the thief did not leave any clues and he was dead from a torn-out throat when she had found him.

"So we've got nothing to go on. It figures." Mr. Bank said in obvious disappointment. Leona waited in silence for his response. He must have read her facial expression because he soon spoke to her.

"Don't worry, Wizard Saint. I'm not disappointed in you. You did exactly what I hired you to do and even though it came to nothing you took a bit of initiative to try and learn more about the thief's employer." He said to her, adding a patronizing tone to the "bit of initiative" comment like he had not expected her to have enough intelligence to search the thief for anything linking him to his employer. Leona ignored the jab to her intelligence. She was not the smartest Wizard Saint and she knew it, but from time to time she had moments of brilliance that proved that she had some ability to think through problems.

"Now, would you kindly put the package on my desk and stand back?" Mr. Bank asked Leona. Leona wordlessly stepped up to the desk, put the package on it, and stepped back. To her surprise the desk dropped into the floor and the package dropped down out of sight, then the desk reappeared without the package on it.

Leona patiently waited for Mr. Bank to say something, anything to her. Leona dared to look up at the monitor and saw Mr. Bank's unblinking face looking into her eyes. She looked away and at the desk.

"Well done, Wizard Saint. The book I hired you to retrieve is intact and in my possession. Even though the job was a small one for someone of your talents, I'm pleased with how you handled this task. I appreciate you taking it seriously." Mr. Bank congratulated Leona for bringing back the book safe and sound and actually gave a compliment without throwing jabs at her. Leona was relieved to hear that her work had not been in vain. She would have hated to have flown over four hours to Silent Cemetery, fought a few zombies and zombie Dobermans, found the package containing the book, then returned with it to Mr. Bank only to find out that her time and effort had been wasted.

"Thank you." Leona said simply. Mr. Bank did not respond to that and instead said something interesting.

"I'm not sure who hired the thief to steal my book, but today should show them that I'll go to any length to get back what's rightfully mine." Mr. Bank commented in a dark tone. Leona was a little put off by that statement, but it confirmed what she had suspected. Mr. Bank had hired her to send a message to would-be thieves that any thefts would result in a Wizard Saint being sent after them. Leona further suspected that while he was content to use her reputation as a weapon to deter theft, he would not be averse to having Leona track down and eliminate the thief if that was what it took to reclaim his property. Leona hoped that she had not gotten more than she bargained for when she accepted the job from Mr. Bank.

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After Mr. Bank had made his statement Leona remained silent because she did not know what to say to that. There was nothing that she could say to that without looking dumb, so she practiced what Samira had taught her about thinking before speaking and kept her mouth shut. Leona waited in silence until the desk retracted under the floor again.

"Well, now that you've completed the job in a satisfactory manner, I believe that I owe you a reward. You'll find the money that you're owed... and something else. Something I believe that you'll get a lot of use out of, if you willing to put the effort into learning what I'm going to teach you." Mr. Bank informed Leona. Again she kept quiet and watched the desk rise into place and on top of it were two objects. The first was a large bag of Jewels. The second was a rather large book with a gray cover.

"Come now, Wizard Saint. Don't be shy. Take what you've earned." Mr. Bank told her. Leona walked towards the desk and stopped in front of it. She picked up the bag of Jewels, then took off her backpack and opened it. She placed the bag of Jewels inside and then picked up the book to examine it. It was well-worn and some of the pages were dog-eared, but it was still in good enough shape for the text to be read clearly.

"It's a book on robotics, Wizard Saint. In it you'll learn how to build and repair robots. You'll learn design principles and other necessary information." Mr. Bank told her what the book was about. Leona smiled a little. Robotics was a subject she had been meaning to learn more about but had never had the time for various reasons, chiefly her responsibilities as a Wizard Saint. Now she could begin a personal project actually related to Silver Wolf's guild mission. She was not going to be able to crank out robotic wonders right away, but in time she would be able to create all manner of robots and repair them as well.

"You seem excited, Wizard Saint. I can see your mind racing with the possibilities that I have just set before you. I also know a lot about your career and that you'll inevitably start to create fighting robots." Mr. Bank said to her. Leona looked up at him. He had basically read her mind.

"I won't judge you, Wizard Saint. From what I know about you, you go into a lot of dangerous places, often by yourself. I can understand the need for a helping hand, but please remember this. It's easy to create something that can take lives, but it's a challenge to create something that can improve lives." Mr. Bank said to her in a neutral tone, giving her some words of wisdom with the last sentence in his statement. Leona knew that he had a point beyond making a moral statement. It was easy to make weapons, but it was harder to make inventions that could improve life.

Even with her lack of higher education Leona had made a machete in the guild hall using a book on blacksmithing to teach her the basics of blacksmithing and ingredients gathered from Spooky Forest alongside her guildmate Eero Saarinen. It was easy to make a weapon that could take a life. What Leona had not managed to do was create something that could make someone's life better. Leona would have to work on that.

"Thank you, Mr. Bank." Leona thanked Mr. Bank for both the money and the book on robotics. She was kind of hoping to get something like a new weapon or a set of weapon schematics, but she would gladly take a book on robotics. Leona would need to be willing to commit a lot of time and study to the subject to avoid wasting her time, effort, and money on half-baked designs and flawed prototypes.

"Don't mention it, Wizard Saint. You more than earned your pay and as far as the book goes, it was a trade... a book for a book. Should you aid me in the future I might be willing to offer you more educational textbooks." Mr. Bank hinted at further gifts of textbooks should she help him in the future.

"Now I suppose you should be going, Wizard Saint. I'm sure that you're eager to run back home and start studying your new book. I don't want to hold you up any longer. If I have need of you I'll get in contact." Mr. Bank said to Leona. Leona carefully put the book into her backpack and closed it up, then put it onto her back. She then faced the green-and-black image of her client one last time.

"Thanks again, Mr. Bank." Leona thanked him for the rewards. She then turned and left the office, stepping into the elevator. The doors closed and the elevator descended to the first floor. There she stepped out of the elevator and walked through the foyer until she reached the front doors. She opened one and stepped out just as the thick metal door finished rising and as soon as she cleared the front door it descended into place, blocking access to Mr. Bank's house unless he wanted to let someone in.

Now that her work here was finished, Leona left the house behind and started making her way out of the Neutral Grounds. She wanted to get back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall and take on the stack of paperwork that was most likely waiting for her on her desk. She also wanted to get back to a place where she could use magic again.

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-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, Leona's office, eight hours later-

Leona had returned to the guild hall four hours ago and had spent the last four hours going through the stack of paperwork that was indeed waiting for her on her desk when she returned from the Neutral Grounds. Now that it was finished Leona got up from her desk, pushed the chair in, and went to her room to prepare for the next task she had to do, which was at least try to read the book that Mr. Bank had given her.

Leona gathered her weapons and walked out of her office to go back to her room. She was not sure if she should begin an intellectual endeavor after doing a job that involved a lot of travel then doing paperwork for four hours. She might just wait until tomorrow to begin reading the book. But before she decided to do anything, she would go get some coffee.

-Leona's room, twenty minutes later-

Leona walked back into her room with a to-go cup of coffee and set the cup of coffee on the desk, then put her weapons in their proper places. She then took off her outfit top and changed into the green tank top she had worn earlier, then put the green, white, and gold outfit top in the wardrobe before closing it. She took off her boots and set them in front of her bed, then took the knife out and walked over to her desk with it.

Leona pulled out the wooden chair, sat down, and pushed it up to the desk. She put the knife down on the right side of the desk and opened the book sitting in the middle of the desk with her left hand. She took the cup of coffee into her right hand and took a sip from it as she began to try and read at least a few pages of the book Mr. Bank had given her.

-Twenty minutes later-

Leona closed the book with her left hand and looked at it. It was well-written and informative, but she just could not understand some of the ideas and terminology. It was written for someone with a university background and Leona was nowhere near educated enough to understand it all. She would need to educate herself on electronics, design, mathematics, and other subjects to even begin to understand everything needed to begin designing and building robots.

To get that kind of technical education Leona would need to take the GED test and gain admission to a school like Crocus Magicka University, then major in robotics. She would also need to find a school that had a robotics program. Crocus Magicka University was her first choice, but then she thought about Dr. Reid. Maybe Dr. Reid knew of a school where the Wizard Saint could get an education in robotics. Leona would have to ask Dr. Reid about that soon.

Leona felt like she would gain nothing by sitting here and continuing to read a book on a subject that she was currently not educated enough to understand. She stood up, pushed her chair in, and set the empty coffee cup far away from the book in case it tipped over. Leona did not want any coffee to get on the robotics book. She began to walk away from the desk when she decided that putting the cup away from the book was a half-measure at best and turned around, walked over to it, picked it up, and carried the cup out of her room to dispose of it.

Once that was done Leona reentered her room, walked over to her bed, reclined on it, and wondered how she was going to make the time needed to pursue a program of higher education to completion. She might need to spend some time at the guild hall studying her GED test preparation books so that she could get ready for a GED test. Leona might have to carve some time out of her day for studying, but her duties as a Wizard Saint could not be put on hold for her to go back to school. Leona was not sure if she could pull off the careful balancing act required to juggle her responsibilities as a Wizard Saint and a Guild Mistress and her personal life.

Leona closed her eyes and went to sleep minutes later.

-The next morning, Leona's room-

Leona woke up the next morning and carefully sat up, then got out of bed. Her feet hit the cold wooden floor and she stood up. The first thing she saw was the closed book on her desk and the sight reminded Leona that she needed to get in contact with Dr. Reid about a school that had a robotics program. The sight of the book also inspired Leona to give reading the book another try now that she had slept some. The Wizard Saint walked over to the desk, pulled the chair out, and sat down to try and read the book again.

With her focus as sharp as it was going to be Leona opened the book and turned to the first page to begin reading.

-One hour later-

Leona closed the book for a second time. She had tried as hard as she could to focus and actually read the book, but she did not understand a lot of the technical terminology and the concepts. However, she had learned that in order to build a robot she would need a reliable supply of good quality metal for the body. Not just any old metal would do... it had to be new and of good quality, something like steel.

Leona also learned that to get the robot to move she would need electrical wiring... a lot of electrical wiring. She would also need a working knowledge of electronics and computer programming in order to get the robot functional and able to take her orders. Leona had books on computer programming, but she would need to read them and she would need to find something on which to practice programming. There was a lot that needed to be learned before she could dive into creating robots.

Maybe she should have asked for a weapon or weapon schematics instead.

Leona stood up from the desk, pushed the chair in, gently closed the book, and went to get a bathcloth and towel in order to take a shower before she went to her office to take care of the paperwork that was likely waiting on her. She would need to come back to this book later when she could understand all of the technical jargon and concepts in it. Right now she had other matters to attend to, matters that could not wait for her to engage in a personal project.

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