Late Night Sword Retrieval

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 38, Post Number 950

-Outside Silent Cemetery, midnight-

Wearing his usual outfit of white t-shirt along with olive green cargo pants and black boots, Leonidas carried his Silver Falchion in its scabbard on his left hip. On his back was a new and sturdy olive green canvas backpack that would allow him to carry more items in a safer place than his pockets. After his experience in the Haunted Guild while working for Simon Wright he was made aware of the need for something in which to carry items so that if his hands were full he did not need to awkwardly carry objects under his arm. A day after meeting Dr. Reid in Motor City Leonidas had went out and bought a backpack for his next job, which had come from an unexpected source. His neighbor Samantha Halsey had contacted him with the job.

A mage friend of hers named Janine had been forced to leave a family heirloom weapon behind while on a job of her own a day ago and Samantha needed someone to go into the cemetery and get it. Leonidas was that "someone" who was going to retrieve the weapon. According to Samantha, the weapon in question was a silver shortsword in a scabbard that Janine had been forced to leave behind when the sword belt had been grabbed by a zombie and she unbuckled the belt to escape. Janine had fought her way out of Silent Cemetery using her magic, which meant that the number of zombies Leonidas had to deal with was low... in theory. In order to find the weapon Leonidas had been told to "follow the trail of zombie corpses."

Leonidas stood outside the cemetery gates and felt the wind blow his hair about. The night was a full moon that was bright enough to light the area, making the use of a flashlight unnecessary. That was good because he was not wanting to have to go through an area wielding a flashlight in one hand and his Silver Falchion in the other like he did in the basement of the Haunted Guild. Leonidas took a deep breath, then walked over to the left gate and opened it. He then stepped inside and shut the gate behind him.

-Inside Silent Cemetery-

Leonidas made sure the gate was shut behind him before facing forward to find a path flanked by tombstones that extended forward for about ten meters before branching left and right. Also in front of him were ten dead zombies whose heads were completely missing. He could tell they were zombies because their clothing was old and their skin was rotten. Samantha had told him about this place and told him that if he encountered any "living" zombies that the quickest way to put them down was to attack their head.

Leonidas listened out for any zombies that might be "alive" and did not hear any yet, so he walked towards the branching path and stopped in the middle. At first he did not know which way to go, but he recalled the hint on how to find the missing weapon and looked down each path to find the one with the "trail of zombie corpses." Leonidas looked left and did not see them, so he looked right. On the right path was the trail he had been told to look out for. Leonidas drew his Silver Falchion and started walking down the right path.

-Down the right path, in the next section of Silent Cemetery-

Leonidas entered the next section of cemetery and found a path that stretched on for 200 meters. It was flanked by tombstones on both sides and on those tombstones were Lacrima lanterns that were glowing with an unnatural pale blue light. Those lanterns were positioned at fifty-meter intervals and lit the path for him. Leonidas looked around for any active zombies in the area but did not see any... the only zombies in sight were missing their heads and lying on the ground.

Leonidas started walking down the path and carefully stepped over or around the corpses on the ground. He walked until he reached the end of the path, then stopped and looked left through an open gate. Ahead of him loomed a 100-meter long path that led past still more tombstones on both sides. There were also more zombies missing their heads lying on the ground, so he was still going the right way. Leonidas took a quiet breath, then began walking forward into the next section of Silent Cemetery.

[Post Word Count: 754]
[Total Word Count: 754/2,500]

-In the next section-

After turning left Leonidas had walked down the long path without incident and was now in a section of Silent Cemetery with small mausoleums and tombstones flanking the path. At the end of the path was a pair of angel statues with their wings flared out as if about to take flight and their arms extended as if reaching out to embrace someone. Leonidas did not like those statues very much because something was odd about them, but he liked the live zombies on the path ahead even less. One of them, a man dressed in a black suit with a missing left eye and an old tophat standing about eight meters away, spotted Leonidas and moaned before shambling towards him.

Leonidas remembered Samantha's advice to "go for the head" and carefully moved towards his opponent with Silver Falchion at the ready. He carefully approached until he was within striking distance, then chopped downward towards the zombie's head. The blade connected with the zombie's forehead, killing it instantly but leaving it lodged in the target's head. Leonidas quickly pulled it out by planting his right foot on the deceased zombie's shoulder and pulling as hard as he could. The Silver Falchion came out just in time for him to deal with another zombie.

Leonidas spotted a female zombie wearing a black dress and missing its right eye plus two fingers on its left hand shambling towards him from six meters away. Again he carefully advanced down the path and got within striking distance before chopping at the zombie's head. Again the Silver Falchion cut deep into its skull, killing it instantly. Leonidas retrieved his sword from its skull and continued to fight his way down the path. There were at least seven more active zombies to take down before he could finally catch his breath.

-Eight minutes later-

Leonidas had just dispatched the last zombie on the path and removed his Silver Falchion from its skull when he remembered to look for the sword belt containing the silver shortsword he had been hired to retrieve. He recalled that a zombie had been holding it when its owner unbuckled it to avoid being bitten, so he searched the area for any zombies still holding on to a sword belt. Leonidas scoured the entire area and did not find it, so it was likely located in the next section of Silent Cemetery through the open gate flanked by the angel statues. With no other choice he walked towards the gate and kept an eye on the statues as he approached them.

As he walked past them Leonidas thought he saw the eyes of the one on the right move to follow him. He stopped in place and made eye contact with the statue, but its eyes were facing forward and staring blankly down the path behind him. The blond man shrugged and kept walking forward. Maybe he was just seeing things.

-In the next section of Silent Cemetery at the end of the path-

Leonidas walked through the open gate to find himself in a rather large section of Silent Cemetery that had a lot of tombstones, mausoleums, and a large angel statue dominating the center of the area. It had its hands raised to the sky and by some coincidence the full moon was positioned in the sky so that it looked like it was being held in the statue's hands. Leonidas did not have much time to admire the statue because he heard moaning close by. He looked around him and saw eight zombies spread out over the area.

He also began to look for the zombie clutching the sword belt and found the zombie in question to his left and about twenty meters away. The zombie in question was wearing a gray suit and a golden monocle over a missing right eye and in its left hand was a black sword belt with a sword in the scabbard. Leonidas was going to take that zombie down first so that it did not wander off with the weapon while he was busy fighting the other zombies in the area.

Leonidas approached it with his sword at the ready and when he closed in brought the blade down on its forehead. The Silver Falchion found its target and the zombie went down with a faint moan. Leonidas withdrew the blade from its head and moved onto the next zombie, which was a man in a blue suit and missing its entire right hand standing six meters away from the zombie he had just dispatched. Leonidas was going to eliminate all the zombies in this area before doing anything else.

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[Total Word Count: 1,536/2,500]

-Twelve minutes later-

After a sweep of the area Leonidas stood victorious over the corpse of the last zombie he had taken down, a female wearing a white dress. The zombie was in an advanced state of decay... it was missing both ears and its nose plus the ring finger on its left hand. It had posed no challenge to the blond man whatsoever. Now that all of the zombies in this section of cemetery were dead he had free reign to retrieve the sword belt without fear of being attacked.

Leonidas returned to the left section of the area and found the dead zombie clutching the sword belt right where he had left it. The blond man stood on its right side and stabbed the zombie through the skull to make sure it was absolutely dead before he bent down in front of it to claim the sword belt. Once he was satisfied that the zombie was truly dead he walked in front of it, then lowered himself to his knees and set the Silver Falchion down to his right before grabbing the left hand of the zombie and trying to get the object out of its grasp.

Leonidas felt nauseous as he slowly and carefully pried the zombie's stiff fingers off of the sword belt until it dropped and landed on the grass below. He breathed a sigh of relief and lowered the zombie's hand, then picked up the sword belt. Leonidas got to his feet and took off his backpack, then opened it. The sword belt was gently placed inside and the backpack was closed before being put on his back again.

Leonidas picked up his Silver Falchion again and looked all around him for any zombies who were late to the fight. He waited a few minutes but no stragglers showed up. Once he was sure that the coast was clear he started making his way back to the entrance to Silent Cemetery.

-Near the entrance to Silent Cemetery, on the branching path, twenty minutes later-

Leonidas had just exited the section of cemetery with glowing pale blue Lacrima lanterns sitting on the tombstones and was standing on the branching path. All he had to do was turn left and walk for ten meters and he would be at the gates. However, before he could leave he would have to get past a pair of male zombies shambling on the path that led to the gates.

Leonidas readied his Silver Falchion and approached the first of the pair, a male zombie wearing a black suit with missing ears and a missing left eye standing only three meters away. He got within sword range and chopped downward with his sword, cutting deep into its skull and killing it instantly. Its fellow, a zombie wearing a brown suit and missing its left ear, was standing only two meters away from Leonidas, so he had to hurry and retrieve his sword. He planted his foot on its shoulder and pulled sharply upwards, removing the blade from the skull of the first zombie in time to use it to cut into the skull of the second zombie moments later.

Leonidas removed the Silver Falchion from the head of the second zombie and wiped the blood on the blade off on its suit, then put the sword back into its scabbard. Leonidas then walked towards the cemetery gates and reached the gates within two minutes. He placed his left hand on the handle to the left gate and pulled the gate open. He then walked through it and carefully closed it behind him.

-Outside Silent Cemetery-

Leonidas pushed on the gate with both hands to make sure that it was firmly shut. Once he was sure that it was not going to come open he turned away from the gate and started the long walk back to Capital Crocus. Once he handed the sword belt to Samantha's friend Janine the job would be officially complete.

-Capital Crocus, outside Samantha Halsey's house, ten hours later-

It had been a long walk back to Capital Crocus, but Leonidas had made it without incident and was now standing outside Samantha's house. He took a few moments to catch his breath before walking over to the doorbell and ringing it once. He took a step back and waited for the door to open. Within two minutes the door had opened and Samantha looked out at Leonidas.

"Oh, hi Leonidas! You're back!" She greeted him warmly.

"I found your friend's sword belt. The sword's still inside the scabbard." Leonidas informed the young blonde woman. Samantha smiled at Leonidas.

"That's wonderful! My friend will be glad to have it back!" Samantha told him.

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[Total Word Count: 2,322/2,500]

Leonidas waited to either be invited into Samantha's house or for Janine to come out and claim her weapon. The latter occurred when a slender black-haired young woman with brown eyes exited the house and walked towards the blond man. She had her hair in a ponytail and was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans with black tennis shoes.

"Sam said that you managed to find the sword belt I had to leave behind in Silent Cemetery. Is this true?" The young woman asked him.

"Yes. I found it being carried by a zombie that I dispatched." Leonidas replied. He took off his backpack, opened it, fished out the sword belt, and handed it to Janine. She pulled the shortsword out of the scabbard and examined it to make sure that he had not tried to pull a fast one on her by buying a shortsword somewhere else and claiming he had went to Silent Cemetery. She then examined the sword belt. Once she was satisfied she put the sword belt on and put the shortsword in the scabbard.

"This is the one. It's a weapon I inherited from my grandmother, who was a mage over forty years ago. It was originally meant to be my mother's, but my mother wasn't the adventuring type, so she gave it to me and I've been using it ever since I was eighteen. That was eight years ago." Janine gave Leonidas a little backstory on the weapon.

"I'm glad that you managed to get it back for me. You did me a big favor by retrieving it." Janine said to Leonidas.

"I'm glad that I was able to get it back for you, Janine." Leonidas told the dark-haired young woman. While the job was not terribly challenging to him, it was still one worth taking because Leonidas had learned how to fight zombies. That knowledge was almost as valuable as any payment he could get for completing a job.

"I'll find a way to return the favor someday. But until then I'll catch you later. I've gotta go home and prepare to look for a job." Janine said to him. She then turned to Samantha.

"I'll see you later, Sam. Thanks for helping me get my shortsword back." Janine thanked her friend. Janine then walked away to the left and started walking down the street. Samantha turned to Leonidas.

"Thank you for doing this for us, Leonidas." Samantha thanked the blond man for his work.

"It's no problem, Samantha." Leonidas replied. Since he was still relatively new to Fiore he was looking to expand his list of potential clients and Samantha was as good a client as any. Maybe if he kept doing work for her she could put him in contact with other people who needed the services of a Guildless mage.

"You've probably got to get ready to look for another job too, so I won't hold you up any longer. Thanks again!" Samantha thanked Leonidas again.

"No problem. I'll see you later." Leonidas replied. He then turned right and began to walk down the street towards his house. He would take the rest of the day off and look for another job tomorrow.

[Post Word Count: 534]
[Total Word Count: 2,856/2,500]