A Search For An Unusual Sword

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 39, Post Number 968

-Outside Silent Cemetery, midnight-

Wearing his olive green jacket over his new white t-shirt and olive green cargo pants with black boots, Leonidas stood ten meters from the gates of Silent Cemetery. On his left hip was his Silver Falchion and on his back was his backpack with his iLac and flashlight. He would not need the flashlight right now because there was a full moon overhead, but if the clouds covered it up he might need a portable light source, so he carried his flashlight in his backpack.

Leonidas had taken a few days off after successfully defending a village in Bellum from a Viking raiding party. He had defeated all of the Vikings by himself, but he had taken more than a few knife wounds in the process. Those injuries required professional medical attention and Leonidas had sought it out the moment he got back to Fiore. After receiving treatment for his injuries he had spent the past few days at his home in Capital Crocus recovering from the wounds.

For his first job in a few days he had traveled to Silent Cemetery to investigate rumors of a sword that had been spotted in the cemetery. It was said to be no ordinary sword, though. It was supposedly a sword in a scabbard that floated under its own power. Leonidas was not sure if it floated because an invisible swordsman was carrying it or if it was a possessed sword with power of its own, but he was going to find out. Having been to Silent Cemetery once before, Leonidas had a good idea of what was waiting for him within the cemetery gates.

He would have to fight his way through the undead that roamed the cemetery. Individually they were not very formidable, but zombies rarely traveled alone. Leonidas was not afraid of them, but he was going to be careful around them because all it would take was one false move and he would be in deep trouble.

Leonidas took a quiet breath and faced the cemetery gates, then drew his Silver Falchion. He walked towards the gates until he reached them, then reached out with his left hand and grabbed the handle to the left gate. He pulled it open and went inside, then shut the gate behind him.

-Inside Silent Cemetery-

Leonidas turned around to find only a few zombies in the immediate area... there were only three of them shambling about and all of them were oblivious to his presence. The closest one was five meters to his right and shambling towards him with a thousand-yard stare. Leonidas was going to kill it with a Compressed Air Bolt to the head. He raised his left hand, prepared the spell, and cast it when he was certain that it was going to hit. The silver bolt of compressed air hit the zombie in the head, killing it instantly when its head exploded.

Leonidas winced at the effects of his spell on the zombie, but he could not argue with the results. Without its head it was highly unlikely that the zombie was going to get up again. Leonidas turned his attention to the next two zombies, both of whom were elderly female zombies wearing tattered black dresses. They were walking towards him on the path that ran between the tombstones and they had their arms raised long before they were within range to grab him. They were six meters away, so he would have plenty of time to stop them before they became a threat.

Leonidas stood his ground. He raised his left hand again and prepared a Pressure Cone spell, then pointed his left index finger towards the zombie that was walking slightly ahead of the other one. Leonidas fired the Pressure Cone spell at its head and hit, causing its head to explode from the force of the spell. It crumpled to the ground as the last zombie continued to walk towards him.

The scar-faced mage channeled silver magic into his left arm, drew it back, and punched towards the zombie's head, releasing a small horizontal tornado in a Tornado Shot spell. The small tornado hit the zombie in the head and made it explode, taking care of that zombie once and for all. The headless body fell to the ground and did not move again.

Now that all of the zombies in the immediate area were down he paused and looked around for any enemies he might have missed during his first look around. A second look failed to locate any more zombies, so Leonidas looked around a third time to be certain he had not missed any. A third look came up with nothing, so he concluded that he had spotted and defeated all of the walking corpses around him. With that he began to walk up the path that branched left and right.

A minute or two of careful walking later and Leonidas was at the point where he would have to choose which way to go. Since he did not have any solid information on which part of the cemetery the floating sword was found in, Leonidas would just have to choose a direction to go in. Picking a direction to go in was going to be a lot harder than it sounded.

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-Silent Cemetery, at the branching path-

Having reached the branching path past the entrance to Silent Cemetery after a brief and successful skirmish with a few zombies, Leonidas now had to decide which way to go. There were only two directions to choose from, so he could either go left or he could go right. He was not sure which way to go to find the mysterious floating sword, so he looked down both paths for any sort of clue that could help him make the right decision.

The left path was full of zombies. He counted at least twenty zombies shambling on that path, if not more. He also did not see anything that would guide him to what he was looking for.

Leonidas then peered down the right path. It too was full of zombies, but these zombies were a lot closer to him than the ones occupying the left path. In fact one of them was only five meters away from him. He had to defeat it and its pals before he could continue the search.

Focusing his thoughts on the battle that was in progress, Leonidas raised his left hand and prepared a Compressed Air Bolt spell to use on the zombie shambling towards him. Once the spell was ready he aimed and fired it at the zombie's head, hitting it in the head with the silver bolt of compressed air and causing its head to explode from the force of the spell. Leonidas defeated it only to find a group of over ten zombies moving in his direction.

The scar-faced mage stood his ground and lowered his left hand. He waited a few moments for the walking corpses to get closer, then raised his left hand and prepared a Cyclone Tunnel spell. Once it was ready Leonidas fired the spell at the heads of his targets and watched them walk right into the visible cone of concussive wind without making any sort of effort to dodge it. The heads of the first ten zombies in the group exploded from the force of the spell and the headless zombies all fell to the ground simultaneously as the zombies behind them continued to move towards Leonidas.

He counted another five zombies shuffling towards him and turned around, then stepped back three big steps before preparing another spell to use against them. Leonidas channeled silver magic into his left hand, then pointed the index finger of his left hand at the head of the closest zombie. Once the Pressure Cone spell was ready he jabbed the index finger at the target, firing the narrow cone of compressed air at the zombie's head. The spell hit its head with explosive results and the headless zombie fell to the ground. The other four behind it continued to move towards him without stopping, changing direction, or splitting up to force him to pick which target to attack while the others he could not target right away closed in.

Leonidas was thankful that the walking dead were incapable of the kind of thinking needed to use such tactics and prepared to deal with the rest of the quartet. He quickly ran over his options and decided to use a Tornado Shot against the next zombie, a man in a tattered brown burial suit with one black shoe on and the other shoe missing. Leonidas channeled silver magic into his left arm, then drew it back before punching forward with it, casting the spell. The small horizontal tornado hit its head and caused it to explode, scoring an instant kill and leaving only three zombies standing.

Leonidas decided to use his Silver Falchion to deal with the last three. He slowly and carefully walked towards the closest zombie, a woman in a tattered white wedding dress who was missing their left arm. Leonidas waited until the right moment, then brought his weapon down on her head in a one-handed chop. The blade cut deep into the zombie's skull, hitting the brain and killing it instantly. He pulled the sword from its skull and faced the next zombie, another female in a white dress who was missing their right arm and their right eye.

Again Leonidas waited until just the right moment before chopping down towards the zombie's skull with his sword. Again the sword cut deep into its skull, hitting the brain for an instant kill. Leonidas withdrew the sword from its skull and faced the last zombie, a man wearing a black suit and a golden monocle over its left eye. Leonidas slowly and carefully moved towards it, then brought down his Silver Falchion towards its skull.

The blade found its mark, cutting into the skull and hitting the brain just like it had the previous two times. The last zombie was killed and Leonidas pulled out the sword, then faced down the right path to look for any more zombies heading for him. He spotted another ten moving towards him from fifty meters away, but those were not the only enemies he spotted. He saw another twenty zombies shambling thirty meters behind the first group. He did not see any sign of the floating sword, but looking for clues about it would have to wait until he had defeated all of the zombies in the immediate area.

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Standing his ground, Leonidas raised his left hand towards the incoming zombies and prepared another Cyclone Tunnel spell that he aimed at their heads. Once the spell was ready Leonidas fired it and the wide cone of concussive wind did the rest. The heads of the first group all exploded in unison, leaving the twenty zombies behind them to continue shambling towards the scar-faced mage.

Leonidas set his Silver Falchion on the ground to his right, then raised both hands out in front of him. He focused silver magic between his hands, creating a large silver tornado. He pushed forward with both hands, casting his Rushing Tornado spell at the densely packed mob of walking corpses. The tornado hit the approximate center of the group and knocked down seven of them... he was not sure if the spell had killed them because their heads were still intact, so he would make sure they were dead after he had eliminated those that were still on their feet.

Leonidas stood his ground and watched as the remaining thirteen zombies shambled to within forty meters of him. That was plenty of distance from which to safely cast spells at his enemies. He raised his left hand and prepared a Compressed Air Bolt, then fired it at the head of a female zombie wearing a black dress who had gotten ahead of the rest of the group. The spell hit the head and it exploded, leaving him only a dozen walking corpses to deal with.

Taking a moment to pick a spell, Leonidas decided to use Pressure Cone to deal with another zombie, a male zombie dressed in a brown suit and wearing broken black-rimmed glasses. Leonidas raised his left hand, channeled silver magic into it, and pointed his left index finger at the target's head. When the spell was ready he jabbed the finger at his target, firing a narrow cone of compressed wind that hit the zombie's head and caused it to explode. Only eleven zombies were left.

He carefully considered his next move and thought about using Rising Cyclone to quickly deal with the zombies heading towards him. He entertained that thought until he looked at the tombstones around him and ahead of him. Most of them looked kind of old and worn from age and exposure to the elements. He was not sure if they could withstand the strong wind generated by the Rising Cyclone spell and decided against using the spell because he did not want to bring down cosmic retribution on his head for desecrating the resting places of the dead.

Leonidas decided to use other means to defeat the zombies, means that did not run the risk of destroying tombstones. He reached down and picked up his Silver Falchion, gripping it in his right hand. He faced the zombies and began to slowly and carefully advance towards them. This was going to be messy.

-Ten minutes later-

The last of the zombies had fallen with their skull cut open and Leonidas stood victorious. He looked towards the zombies he had hit with the Rushing Tornado spell earlier and saw that they were still lying on the ground. He was not sure if they were truly dead or not, so now was the time to make certain that they were. He walked towards them with Silver Falchion at the ready in case they suddenly got to their feet.

-Five minutes later-

The zombies he had hit with the Rushing Tornado spell now each had a stab wound between the eyes that punched through their skulls and into their brains, so now the scar-faced mage knew that they not going to rise up and attack him later. Leonidas looked down the cemetery path and noticed a bend to the left. He began to carefully walk down the path until he reached the bend.

He turned left and saw an open wrought-iron gate. It opened onto another straight path flanked by tombstones and spotted at least five active zombies shambling among the tombstones at a distance of approximately fifteen meters. There were four Lacrima lanterns perched on top of tombstones at twenty-five meter intervals, providing plenty of light to see by. Leonidas looked forward and noticed that the zombies were not aware of his presence. That was fine by him... he was gong to proceed slowly and carefully because he was not going to risk getting bitten by acting recklessly. He also did not have a time limit in which to find his quarry, so he had no reason to rush into danger.

Leonidas looked to his left down the path he had just traversed to make sure that no additional zombies had risen from their graves since he had walked down the path. When he was certain that none had risen he then faced forward and began slowly walking into the next section of cemetery.

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-The next section of Silent Cemetery-

Leonidas walked five steps into the area of Silent Cemetery that stretched past the gate before the first zombie happened to turn at the moment the scar-faced mage stepped inside and caught sight of him. The zombie moaned and raised its arms before shambling towards Leonidas. The rest of the zombies followed suit, but Leonidas was not alarmed. He stayed where he was and raised his left hand, aiming it at the zombie's head.

He prepared and cast a Compressed Air Bolt spell at the head of the first zombie he had spotted, an elderly man who was bald and wearing a black suit. The bolt made contact with its head and caused it to explode. The first zombie fell to the ground and the other four continued slowly moving towards Leonidas, who was not concerned by them.

He prepared and cast a Pressure Cone spell at the head of the next zombie in line, a female zombie wearing a black dress and missing its right arm. The narrow cone of compressed air hit the target and its head exploded from the pressure, leaving just three zombies to deal with. Leonidas noticed that the zombies were spaced far enough apart for him to be able to use his Silver Falchion without much risk. That was how he was going to deal with them without expending any more magic power.

Clutching his Silver Falchion in his right hand, Leonidas moved slowly and carefully towards the walking corpses.

-Four minutes later-

The last zombie of the trio fell to the ground with a gaping cut in its head that went to its brain and Leonidas stood victorious. He had managed to kill all three with his sword without being grabbed and mauled. He had saved quite a bit of magic power for the challenges that doubtlessly lay ahead. He turned left and looked towards the next part of the cemetery and saw six zombies streaming towards him with their arms raised. They must have heard the fighting in this part... not that it really mattered.

Leonidas turned to face the zombies and drew back his left arm. He channeled magic into it to prepare his Tornado Shot spell and when the spell was ready punched towards the head of the first zombie in line, another female zombie wearing a white dress and missing their left arm. The Tornado Shot hit its head with messy results and its headless body fell to the ground, leaving five in the new wave of enemies heading for him.

The scar-faced mage noted where they were and saw them bunching up practically shoulder-to-shoulder just inside the gate that led to the next part of the cemetery. Instead of engaging them in hand-to-hand combat he simply raised his left hand and prepared his Cyclone Tunnel spell. When the spell was ready he cast it at their heads and hit them all, causing all of their heads to explode simultaneously. All of them dropped to the ground and the current threat had been ended.

Before he moved on Leonidas checked behind him for zombies walking through the gate behind him and did not see any. He listened quietly for any moaning zombies and did not hear any coming from the direction of the gate behind him... all of the noise came from the area in front of him that he was soon going to walk into. Leonidas started walking into the next area of cemetery and passed through the gate after a brisk four-minute walk.

-In the next section of Silent Cemetery-

Leonidas walked into the next section of Silent Cemetery and looked around at all the above-ground crypts and small mausoleums that flanked the path that led towards the gate with the angel statues flanking it. Just like the path he had just walked down the path ahead of him was about 100 meters long. He saw five zombies spaced out along the path at eight-meter intervals and there were more loitering near the end of the path near the gate. He was not going to complain, though. He would have plenty of time to deal with the zombies in front of him before the rest noticed he was here and started walking towards him.

Leonidas carefully approached the first zombie, a young man about his age wearing a gray suit and missing its right eye, and raised his Silver Falchion into the air, then brought it down on the zombie's skull when he was close enough. The blade cut deep into its head and hit the brain for an instant kill. Leonidas planted his right foot on the zombie's chest and pulled, removing the Silver Falchion in time to spot another zombie heading for him from roughly six meters away.

Leonidas saw the other three zombies starting to head down the path to join their fellow, but that group was not all he was going to have to contend with. The zombies near the end of the path had caught wind of him and were starting to move towards him too. Leonidas would have to deal with the quartet in front of him before he could deal with the larger group.

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Shortly after spotting the trio of zombies shambling towards him Leonidas prepared a Raging Cyclone spell by channeling black magic into his hand and raising it above his head before casting the spell. When the spell was cast a visible black wind began to swirl around him... not that the zombies would notice. Raging Cyclone gave the scar-faced mage's spells the power boost needed to ensure that any zombies hit with his spells stayed down, but he would have to be careful because the spells might also do greater damage to tombstones, mausoleums, and any other structures within range.

Having powered up his spells, Leonidas raised his left hand again and aimed for the heads of the incoming zombies. He then prepared a Cyclone Tunnel spell. When it was ready he fired the Cyclone Tunnel at the heads of the quartet of zombies and watched their heads explode simultaneously. The headless corpses dropped to the ground in unison and left the way clear for Leonidas to take on the next group of zombies.

He did a quick count of the enemies and counted fifteen zombies in the second, larger group that was slowly making its way towards him. Leonidas was not intimidated by the size of the group and calmly prepared another spell. This time he would use Rushing Tornado.

Leonidas held out his hands, which were glowing silver. He focused visible silver wind between them until the spell was ready and when it was ready pushed forward with both hands, firing a large horizontal tornado towards the zombies. As usual they made no effort to get out of the way and seven of the fifteen were knocked down but their heads did not explode. Leonidas would have to deal with them once the remaining eight zombies were disposed of.

To defeat the rest of the zombies Leonidas would need to whittle down the zombies before closing in to finish off the rest with his Silver Falchion. He had a few spells which could do that. Leonidas led off by preparing and firing a Compressed Air Bolt spell from his left hand at the head of a female zombie wearing a stained white gown who had gotten ahead of the others. Its head exploded when the spell hit and now he only had to face seven zombies.

After casting the Compressed Air Bolt Leonidas raised his left hand again and prepared a Pressure Cone spell. When the spell was ready he fired it from his left index finger at the head of a male zombie wearing a brown suit and old glasses with a thin black frame. The visible cone of compressed air hit the target's head and scored an instant kill when its head exploded. Leonidas needed to whittle down the group a bit more before he moved in to finish the rest of the zombies with his sword.

Leonidas channeled silver magic into his left arm, then drew it back. When Tornado Shot was ready he punched towards the head of a male zombie wearing a gray suit and missing its left arm, firing a small horizontal tornado that connected with its head. The zombie's head exploded and the headless corpse fell to the ground. There were now five zombies left and Leonidas felt confident that he could kill them with his sword without any trouble. Leonidas began to move towards them with his Silver Falchion gleaming in the moonlight.

-Seventeen minutes later-

Standing in front of the large group of dead zombies, Leonidas looked around for any other zombies who were late to the fight before he began walking deeper into the cemetery.

When Leonidas had first approached the quintet the zombies were closer together than he had anticipated. He should have used his spells to whittle them down further before closing in with his sword, but he had managed to recover from his mistake and defeat the remaining five zombies by using simple tactics. Backing away from the small group after killing a single zombie and letting them string themselves out along the path as they pursued him allowed him to take on the zombies in one-on-one "fights" rather than facing them as a group.

After the fighting was over Leonidas had taken the time to inflict a lethal head wound on any zombie lying on the ground that had not been decapitated by one of his spells. Now that he knew that all of the zombies he had fought were actually dead he could move on without having to worry about his escape route being cut off if he had to flee from an overwhelming force of zombies in the next part of the cemetery. He also did not have to worry about being attacked from behind while fighting the next group of zombies.

Leonidas heard the distinctive moaning of zombies coming from the next area and took a moment to plan his next move. He was going to move into the next area slowly and carefully so that he could make a tactical retreat if he encountered a group of enemies that was too large to fight right away. He would retreat and make the large group string itself out trying to chase him down, then pick them off at his leisure.

Having decided on his course of action, Leonidas began to walk down the path towards the next section of cemetery.

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

After passing through the gate flanked by angel statutes Leonidas found himself standing in a large section of cemetery that he soon recognized. It was the same area where he had found Janine's silver shortsword some time ago. Nothing had changed about it except the distinct lack of zombies, something that prompted Leonidas to look all around him to avoid being sneaked up on by the walking dead.

Leonidas promptly looked around him and soon noticed that there were zombies in the area, but they were all lying on the ground. That did not comfort him but instead prompted him to slowly and carefully walk over to them to see if they were really dead or just practicing a new hunting tactic. When Leonidas reached the first one, a bald male zombie wearing a black suit and a golden monocle over the left eye, he noticed that the zombie had a deep head wound that cut to the brain. The scar-faced mage kept a careful distance while studying the wound.

He observed the shape and depth of the wound and had cause to suspect that it had been caused by an edged weapon. Leonidas suspected that the killing blow had been a chop through the skull to the brain that was identical to the way he had dispatched most of the zombies in his path. He began to wonder if the floating sword that was rumored to be in the cemetery had something to do with it. He had not seen any other mages in the cemetery up to this point, so the sword was a likely suspect.

Leonidas began to carefully walk around the section of cemetery to look at more of the fallen zombies. As he walked around he noticed that all of them had a deep chop wound to the head that cut into the brain. As he walked he still kept his distance from the corpses on the off chance that one of them had somehow survived what should have been a fatal wound. After completing a lap around the area and returning to where he had started he had counted twenty-seven dispatched zombies in total.

Now that he knew that the corpses on the ground were not a threat Leonidas began to look around him for any sign of the floating sword. He started another lap around the area with the intent to check behind the mausoleums and other likely hiding places. He was a third of the way around the area when something compelled him to turn and look at the giant angel statue that dominated the center of the area. When he did he looked at its hands and noticed something very odd about it.

In its left hand stood a scabbard and in its right hand stood a sword that gleamed in the moonlight.

Leonidas recalled from his last visit that the angel statue did not hold a sword. That fact caused him to become suspicious and gave him reason to believe that he had found what he was looking for. However, he was not going to climb the statue to go after the sword, so he needed to find another way to bring the weapon down to ground level. That problem soon solved itself because moments later the weapon leapt from the hand of the angel statue and began to descend towards him with the blade pointed downward.

Leonidas quickly jumped to the right as the sword descended on him and watched the blade lodge itself in the ground where he was standing moments ago. The weapon soon began to move up and down while shaking back and forth like it was trying to free itself from the earth. Leonidas took a few steps back while watching the weapon closely. From what he saw of it it looked like a fairly old broadsword, but he did not dare get very close to it in case it suddenly freed itself from the ground and attacked him again.

"Help me!" A male voice called out. Leonidas began to look for the source of the voice and was not seeing anyone nearby... anyone who was alive, anyway. He continued to look around and wondered where the call for help was coming from.

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"Help me!" the male voice repeated plaintively. The sword continued to shake like it was trying to free itself from the ground and as Leonidas watched it he noticed that there was a long blue tassel with a few fringes extending from the pommel. He watched it wobble from side to side a bit longer and decided that in its current state it was not a threat to him, so he started walking around the section of cemetery he was in to locate the source of the voice he had been hearing.

"Don't leave me here!" The voice called out to him. Leonidas paused in place. It sounded like the voice was coming from behind him.

"Don't leave me sticking out of the ground!" The voice repeated its plea for help. That was a pretty big clue as to the identity of the voice's owner, but part of Leonidas was not sure whether to believe it or not. If he was hearing things correctly, the sword that was lodged in the ground was talking to him.

Leonidas spun around to face the weapon.

"Help me out!" The sword pleaded. Leonidas blinked.

Since there was no one else around, he was pretty sure that the sword was talking to him.

"Minutes ago you tried to kill me. Why should I help you?" Leonidas posed a question to the sword.

"I've been trapped in a cemetery full of mindless walking corpses that tried to grab and eat me despite the fact I'm made of metal and would be as edible to them as a stone. I thought that you were just another mindless walking corpse." The sword defended its earlier behavior. That statement led Leonidas to ask another question.

"Were you the one responsible for killing all of the zombies in this section of cemetery?" Leonidas asked the sword. It was kind of a stupid question to ask considering that he had not been the one to kill him, but perhaps another person had been through here recently and they were the one who had taken out the zombies.

"Yes." It answered laconically. Leonidas looked at it a bit longer before speaking again.

"Well done." Leonidas complimented the talking weapon on its work. Now he was certain that he had found the floating sword that had been talked about in rumors.

"Would you please help me out of the ground now?" The sword requested his help. Leonidas was not sure if it was going to attack him once it was freed from the ground, but he would give the sword a helping hand, so to speak.

"I'll help you." Leonidas replied laconically. He walked over to the sword and put his left hand on the grip, then pulled upward with all his might. In a few seconds the blade was freed from the soil and Leonidas staggered backwards for a few steps before regaining his footing. The sword floated before him and remained where it was.

"Thank you for freeing me from the ground." The sword thanked Leonidas for his assistance. Leonidas took another glance at the weapon and noticed that it had a circular decoration shaped like a blue eye in the middle of the handguard and the decoration was facing him like it was watching him.

"Do you have a name?" The sword asked him.

"Leonidas." Leonidas gave his first name. He chose not to give his last name because he saw no point in doing so. His first name would be good enough for the sword.

"Do you have a name?" Leonidas asked the floating weapon the same question it had asked him. The scabbard that had been resting in the left hand of the angel statue floated down and landed to the left of the sword.

"I'm afraid not. If I had a name I've long since forgotten it." It replied. Leonidas looked at the weapon as it raised itself into the air and positioned itself above its scabbard, then floated down into it. He noticed that the scabbard was of an odd design that somewhat resembled a face in the center.

"I don't know my name, but I know some of my past. My last master was a mage who fell in battle at least a century ago. I don't remember their name, but I remember that they were a mage who wielded considerable magic power." The sword told Leonidas a little about its past.

"You're at least a hundred years old?" Leonidas asked the sword. It floated up and down three times as if nodding before coming to a stop.

"Yes, I'm at least one hundred years old." It answered.

The Sword In Its Scabbard:

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Leonidas looked at the floating sword and tried to make sense of what was going on here.

He was talking to a sword that was one hundred years old while standing in the middle of Silent Cemetery.

The sword was also talking to him.

This was the first time Leonidas had ever encountered a talking sword and he was not sure what to expect from it. He was not sure if the floating weapon was friendly, neutral, or trying to lull him into complacency with a friendly demeanor before attacking him again. However, Leonidas was not the only one paying attention to their conversation partner.

The floating sword seemed to be watching him as well. He had no idea what it could possibly be thinking, but if the scar-faced mage were to venture a guess he would guess that the weapon was trying to determine if he was a threat to it. Leonidas was a tall and burly man with a prominent facial scar and a weapon in hand, so the floating sword was probably not sure what Leonidas' intentions were.

Leonidas was content to remain silent for the moment. He was busy listening out for any zombies he might have missed while traveling and fighting through Silent Cemetery. He was also listening for anything else the floating sword had to say to him. So far the only sound he could hear was the sound of the wind blowing through the area. He felt his hair be blown around by the wind and watched the sword's tassel be blown about at the same time.

Silence continued to prevail between the two until Leonidas finally spoke first.

"What brings you here? Were you looking for the grave of your late master? Were you looking for revenge on the person who killed your last master?" Leonidas asked the floating sword. It shook itself from side to side three times, then stopped and remained silent for a few moments.

"I'm looking for a new master." The sword answered plainly. That intrigued Leonidas.

"Really?" Leonidas asked laconically. The sword floated up and down three times.

"Yes." It answered simply. Since it was not exactly forthcoming with details Leonidas supposed that he would have to keep talking to it to get more information. His curiosity was piqued, so he had no problem talking to the sword just as long as talking to it did not leave him vulnerable to any zombies that might have tracked him to this part of the cemetery.

"Why did you travel to this cemetery? Why not go to a town or city to look for a new master?" Leonidas asked it. If it wanted a new master all it had to do was go to any of Fiore's towns or cities and chances were good that someone would claim it. Maybe there was a good reason for it traveling out to a place like this.

"I came out here because I didn't want to serve just anyone. I wanted to find someone strong to serve." It answered, giving a little information about its motive. Leonidas was not entirely sure what to make of that reason, but he would give his unusual conversation partner a chance to explain itself before passing judgment. Silence filled the air again.

"Go on." Leonidas prompted the sword to continue talking. After a few moments it obliged him.

"I came to this place because I wanted to see who would be brave enough and strong enough to seek me out. My last master was a strong mage and I wanted to find another strong mage to serve." The sword explained a little further. Leonidas was still not entirely convinced by the sword's reasoning, but he was not going to argue with it. He supposed that it could have picked a worse way to test potential new owners. It could have easily chosen Haunted Guild for its test and ghosts were considerably tougher adversaries than zombies. Leonidas would have still tried to ascertain the truth behind the rumors of the floating sword, but he would have had a much tougher time fighting ghosts that could move at human running speed than he had had fighting zombies that moved at a shamble.

"I see. If you're willing to talk about it, how has your search gone? Have you found anyone who has met your criteria?" Leonidas asked the sword. It shook itself back and forth three times.

"I haven't found anyone who's met my criteria. But then again, you're the first person I've actually met out here. Well, the first living person I've met. I've met plenty of those walking corpses before you got here, but they're technically not living people." The sword answered his question. Leonidas was tempted to ask if he had met its criteria, but he chose not to. He did not want to sound presumptuous by asking that question... the sword might have more tests in store for anyone wanting to bring it into their service.

"Interesting." Leonidas calmly said to the floating weapon. The wind picked up again and blew his hair and the sword's tassel about a second time as he waited for it to continue the conversation. Maybe it would eventually tell him whether or not it considered him strong enough to become its new master.

[Post Word Count: 886]
[Total Word Count: 6,734/11,000]

-Silent Cemetery, eleven minutes later-

Leonidas had waited for the floating sword to speak to him about its plans for the immediate future, but it had remained silent... the only thing Leonidas could hear was the soft sound of the wind blowing. The scar-faced mage was getting tired of waiting around for the floating sword to talk to him and he was about to leave it to its business. He had better things to do with his time than stand in a cemetery all night long and wait for it to finally talk to him.

Well, not really, but the sword did not need to know that.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, but I'm about to go now. I wish you well in your search for a new master." Leonidas bade his conversation partner farewell. He then turned around and began the journey to the entrance of the cemetery. He was approaching the gate that led out of the section of cemetery he was in when he heard the sword talking to him. Or shouting at him, rather.

"WAAAAIT! WAIT FOR ME!" The sword shouted. Leonidas obliged and slowed his pace until he came to a complete stop. The floating weapon floated up to his right side and paused.

"Where are you going?" The sword asked him. Leonidas made eye contact with it before speaking.

"I was going back home." The scar-faced mage answered.

"But what about me? Were you just going to leave me here?" The sword asked him.

"I thought you were waiting here for a new master." Leonidas reminded it of its earlier statement to him.

"Well, I was..." It replied meekly. Leonidas maintained eye contact with it as he waited for it to continue talking.

"But I just decided that I want to get out of here more." It said to him. Leonidas kept quiet for a few moments before speaking.

"Is that so?" Leonidas asked the weapon. It floated up and down three times.

"Yes. You see, I've had quite enough of these walking corpses. They've tried to bite me every time we've met and that gets old really fast." It told him.

"Do you know how old it gets for someone to try and bite you every time you meet?" The weapon asked Leonidas a rhetorical question. The scar-faced mage shook his head.

"I can't say I do." Leonidas replied dryly.

"Well, you should count yourself lucky." The sword said to him just as dryly. After that bit of conversation came another period of silence. Feeling bad for walking away from the sword earlier because doing so might have come across as pressuring it to speak, Leonidas decided to ask it something.

"...Did you want to travel out of here with me?" Leonidas asked the sword after an awkward pause. It floated up and down three times.

"Yes, please!" It answered with audible relief on its voice.

"OK then. Follow me." Leonidas told his new traveling companion. He walked out of the section of cemetery he was in with the floating sword following a short distance behind him.

-Outside the entrance to Silent Cemetery, forty minutes later-

The unlikely pair had traveled through Silent Cemetery without encountering any more zombies. Well, any live ones, anyway. They had spotted plenty of dead ones that Leonidas had left on the ground during his search for the floating sword. Once they had reached the gates Leonidas opened the right gate and let his companion out, then followed behind it. Once both of them were through he shut the gate securely behind them and turned to face the floating sword.

"All right. We're out of Silent Cemetery now. Where will you go from here?" Leonidas asked it. He did not dare ask it to come home with him because it probably wanted to go elsewhere in search of a new master. He certainly did not want to stand in the way of its goal.

"Good question." It answered laconically. Leonidas was not sure what to make of that answer. He thought that it had a plan for what to do once it got out of Silent Cemetery. Apparently it did not have a plan, which meant that another lengthy session of staring at one another and waiting for the other person to speak was about to happen. Leonidas was not looking forward to that at all, but the awkward conversation could not be helped for a couple of reasons.

Neither of them really knew each other and it was only natural that the conversation be somewhat stilted due to that fact. Another reason was that Leonidas was not used to talking to floating weapons. He was in uncharted territory here and he was doing the best he could in a new situation.

[Post Word Count: 796]
[Total Word Count: 7,530/11,000]

"All right then. If you don't have a plan you don't have a plan." Leonidas said to his unusual companion. He was not going to stand here all night and wait for the conversation to limp along like one of the numerous zombies he had killed earlier. He had technically accomplished his task of finding the sword the rumors had talked about, so he was going to return home and let the sword do whatever it wanted. In the meantime he cleaned the blood off of his Silver Falchion using the grass beneath his feet and then put the clean sword back into its scabbard.

"As for me, I'm going to go home." Leonidas announced his intention. He was not trying to pressure his companion into speaking. He was genuinely wanting to go home and either go to sleep or do something else with his time. Since the floating sword did not seem particularly interested in him and he did not want to force it to serve him, Leonidas would leave it to its own devices and let it choose its own path in life. Maybe this was the last time they would meet. Maybe fate had other plans for them, but right now it did not seem like the two would form any meaningful connection.

"Hopefully you'll find a new master soon. Maybe we'll meet again some day." Leonidas said to the floating sword before beginning to walk away. He was not trying to pressure the floating sword into talking. He was also not trying to drop hints that the sword should choose him as its new master. He was simply stating his wish for it to find someone it deemed worthy of serving. He continued to walk as the sword remained floating just outside the gates of Silent Cemetery.

-The outskirts of Capital Crocus, eleven hours later-

Leonidas had walked all the way from Silent Cemetery to Capital Crocus without stopping. Nighttime was not the best time to take a leisurely walk on the road and as a result he had made the entire trip as fast as he could possibly go on foot. Maybe he should look into getting a vehicle once he had made some more money and had time to do some research on the best vehicle for his needs. In the meantime he focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

He started walking towards Capital Crocus when he felt the sensation of being watched. He stopped in place, put his right hand on the grip of the Silver Falchion, and spun around to confront the unwanted watcher. Leonidas looked down the path behind him and saw nothing, so he continued to look around for a few moments. He did not see anything around but empty path, so he concluded that he was on edge for no good reason. He turned around and began to walk towards Capital Crocus.

-Leonidas' Neighborhood, two hours and forty minutes later-

Leonidas felt the full force of the midday sun beating down on him made his way back to his apartment. The foot traffic was denser than the scar-faced mage had anticipated, but he was able to navigate it without too much trouble. His feet were killing him and he wanted to finally sit down and get off of his feet for a few hours, but first he would have to get through his neighborhood, which was not very crowded. Only a few people were on the streets and that was fine with him.

The scar-faced mage walked through the neighborhood while doing his best to ignore his hurting feet. It would only be a bit longer and he could sit down on the chair in his living room. That reminded him... he needed to do some furniture shopping when he had the time. But first he was experiencing the strong feeling that he was being watched.

Leonidas spun around to confront whoever had been watching him on the outskirts of Capital Crocus and saw nothing. This was the second time that this had happened. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but he had genuinely experienced the sensation that someone had just had their eyes on him. In the end Leonidas concluded that he was reacting to something that was not there and was about to continue walking home when he faced forward and spotted Samantha Halsey heading towards him.

"Hi Leonidas!" Samantha greeted him once she got within earshot. She was wearing an outfit that was less formal than usual... it consisted of a blue long-sleeved turtleneck and a knee-length white skirt with black dress shoes. Leonidas did not expect to see her, but he did not mind.

"Hello Samantha." Leonidas greeted Samantha, making no mention of his trip to Silent Cemetery. The presence of the Silver Falchion was sure to draw some questions from Samantha. The fact that he was armed would indicate that he had not been out for a casual stroll through the city.

[Post Word Count: 832]
[Total Word Count: 8,362/11,000]

Samantha's eyes immediately went to the sword on Leonidas' left hip.

"I take it you went on a job?" Samantha asked him.

"Yes. To Silent Cemetery." Leonidas answered truthfully. His trip there had a legitimate purpose, so he had no trouble telling her the truth... not that it was any of her business. He was aware of how carrying a weapon looked to some people, so he told her where he had went to ease her concerns.

"Silent Cemetery?" Samantha asked.

"Yes, Silent Cemetery. The place is full of zombies, so carrying my sword was necessary." The scar-faced mage elaborated further. Samantha turned her attention away from his sword to look him in the eyes.

"Did you find what you were looking for there?" The young blonde woman inquired. Leonidas did not speak for a moment, if only because he had trouble finding the words he needed to explain what had happened without going into details. He was not sure how she would react if she learned the purpose behind his trip was to find a floating sword in a cemetery.

"Yes and no, Samantha. I found what I was looking for, but I couldn't quite get it." He answered. He had found the floating sword, but it had not chosen him as its new master. That was fine with him... he was not going to waste time trying to convince it. His Silver Falchion was currently the only sword he really needed, so not having the services of a floating sword was not going to cause him to lose sleep.

Samantha did not respond to his statement. Instead she leaned to the left and looked behind him.

"What's that?" Samantha asked Leonidas and pointed with her right index finger. The scar-faced mage turned around to try and get a glimpse of what Samantha had spotted, but there was nothing there. Leonidas turned around and faced Samantha again.

"I saw something there, I promise! I saw a flash of blue!" Samantha asserted. Leonidas kept quiet. Maybe there really was something there and he had been too slow to see it. Maybe she thought she had seen something... there was no way of knowing for certain.

"Well, whatever it was, it's gone now." Samantha concluded. Again Leonidas kept quiet and chose to let the episode pass without comment. The young woman quickly put on a cheerful face and made eye contact with Leonidas again.

"What are you about to do now?" Samantha asked him.

"I was going to go home. I was at Silent Cemetery at roughly midnight and spent almost another twelve hours walking from Silent Cemetery to Capital Crocus. Then it took me almost three hours of walking to get to this neighborhood." Leonidas replied with a truthful statement of his intent. He was planning to go home for awhile and sit on his couch for a few hours before getting up to go look for another job.

"I was going to go to the mall for awhile. I was gonna ask you if you wanted to go, but you probably want to sit down for awhile after all of that traveling." Samantha said to him, revealing the purpose of her question. Leonidas briefly entertained accompanying her to the mall and was initially going to turn her down, but then he decided to go anyway. He might find a decent outfit or two to supplement his limited wardrobe. At the very least he would not be thinking about the floating sword for a couple of hours.

"I'll go with you, Samantha. Just let me go home so I can leave my sword there before we go to the mall." Leonidas told her. Samantha gave a small smile.

"All right, Leonidas. I'll follow you home and wait for you outside." She replied.

"OK." He replied laconically. He started to walk down the street towards his apartment while Samantha followed at his left side. He had not anticipated going to the mall today, but he was going there anyway. He would have plenty of time to look for a job later.

Besides, he kind of liked Samantha... in a platonic way.

[Post Word Count: 690]
[Total Word Count: 9,052/11,000]

-Capital Crocus Mall, three hours later-

Since neither Samantha nor Leonidas owned a motor vehicle both of them had had to walk to the mall and work their way through the city's dense foot traffic, but once they were at the mall they could finally relax. Leonidas' feet were tired from the trip to Silent Cemetery and so was he, but he had already committed to the trip to the mall, so there was no backing out now. The two blondes stood in the entrance hallway that opened onto the food court, which was packed with forty-plus people waiting in line to get food from one of several small restaurants in the food court. Samantha looked at Leonidas, who was standing a short distance to her left.

"Do you want anything to eat right now, Leonidas?" Samantha asked the blond mage. Leonidas shook his head without looking at her.

"No thanks, Samantha. Do you want anything to eat right now?" Leonidas replied before asking the same question of his neighbor. Samantha shook her head.

"Well, I did, but there's no point in waiting around here. The food court's packed and we'll be waiting at least an hour, if not more." Samantha answered. Leonidas continued to look forward and saw what she meant. The lines were moving at a snail's pace and he lacked the time and patience to wait for food. He doubted that Samantha was inclined to wait either, but he would ask before he decided to move on.

"So, what do you want to do? Go somewhere else to eat or just wait until we're finished shopping?" Leonidas asked her with a fair amount of concern on his voice.  Samantha looked at him and made eye contact.

"I'd like to try to get into All-Star Grill if we can." Samantha replied candidly. Leonidas looked away from the packed food court and turned to make eye contact with her. Before he could even ask the question she was ready with an answer.

"All-Star Grill's a sports-themed restaurant in the mall. It's not too far from here... it's just a walk to the right. I'm not a fan of sports, but the food's great. Janine and I have been there a few times in the past and the food's good... the customer service's great too." Samantha explained to Leonidas what All-Star Grill was and assured him that the restaurant was worth going to. Leonidas would be the judge of that, but he doubted that Samantha was lying to him. If she wanted to go to the restaurant he would go.

"OK. I'm ready to go wait in line if you are." Leonidas stated. The young woman turned her head right and frowned. Leonidas did not have to be a psychic to know what was going to be said next.

"Oh great. All-Star Grill's full too. Looks like there's at least thirty people already waiting in line and more people are getting in line. We won't be able to get in at that rate." Samantha commented and pointed to the right. Leonidas looked in that direction and almost immediately spotted a long line of people snaking out of the restaurant door with a few people at the far end joining the line. The scar-faced mage frowned.

"OK, what do we do about food then?" Leonidas calmly asked Samantha. The blue-clad blonde shrugged in response.

"Beats me, Leonidas." Samantha answered glumly. That was not a very helpful answer.

"Do you just want to wait until after we're finished shopping to look for somewhere to eat?" Leonidas repeated his question from earlier. She nodded slowly.

"Sure. It's not like we have much choice anyway." Samantha replied without much enthusiasm. Leonidas let the remark pass without comment and focused on the shopping trip.

"What was it you came to the mall to shop for, Samantha?" Leonidas asked her to change the subject. Samantha's face lit up, her unhappiness at all the restaurants in the mall being full seemingly forgotten.

"I want to go to Earthland Eagle! It's a clothing store that has some clothes I really wanna buy!" She told him with enthusiasm. Leonidas was glad to see his neighbor in a better mood and rolled with it.

"Which way is Earthland Eagle?" The scar-faced mage asked her without missing a beat. She pointed to the right again.

"It's just a short walk to the right!" Samantha answered and pointed to the right before starting to walk in that direction. Leonidas, not wanting to be left behind, walked briskly after the young woman as she made her way towards the clothing store.

[Post Word Count: 768]
[Total Word Count: 9,820/11,000]

-Outside Earthland Eagle, three hours later-

Some time after going into Earthland Eagle Samantha emerged from the clothing store with a large pink plastic bag of clothing clutched in her right hand. Behind her walked Leonidas with two more large pink plastic bags full of clothing, one held in each hand. He had not anticipated her taking so long for a visit to just one store.

The blue-clad blonde had perused every shelf in the store at least twice before finally picking something to try on. Leonidas had lost count of how many times his companion had went in and out of the dressing room with a shirt, a pair of shorts, or a skirt to try on or take back. The scar-faced mage had gotten bored during the long wait and more than once he had found himself wishing for a chair to sit in while he waited because of the fatigue that had accumulated from the trip to Silent Cemetery.

The next time Samantha asked him to go shopping with her Leonidas was going to think much harder before committing to doing that.

"Today's been a good day, Leonidas! I had fun AND I found some clothes that I wanted!" Samantha stated her satisfaction with the results of the shopping trip as she walked towards the mall exit. Leonidas did not comment as he followed closely behind her. He should have known that he would be used as a pack mule by the other blonde, but he had went to the mall with her anyway.

"Did you have fun?" Samantha asked him out of the blue. Leonidas kept a straight face as he responded to the question.

"I did. I got something out of the trip too." Leonidas answered calmly, telling a partial truth to try and avoid hurting his female friend's feelings. While he was not particularly thrilled about having to stand around in a clothing store that catered to young women and listen to mediocre bubblegum pop play over the speakers while bored out of his mind, he had managed to get something out of the trip. He had learned that not all women were repulsed by his facial scar.

As expected many young women around his age avoided him like the plague, but a few were not repelled by his appearance and actually acknowledged his existence. Those few young women seemed to have a thing for muscular men and as a former blacksmith Leonidas fit the bill. However, he was not ready for the dating game yet. He had important things to do, things like saving up enough money to buy a larger house and acquiring some sort of transport so that he did not have to walk everywhere he went.

"That's great! We should go shopping more often!" Samantha said. Leonidas was thankful that she had not pressed the issue because had she pressed it the scar-faced mage would have had difficulty in explaining himself. He quietly let the matter drop as he carried Samantha's bags towards the mall exit.

-Three hours later, outside Samantha's apartment-

It had been as long a walk back home as it had been to get to the mall to start with thanks to Capital Crocus' dense foot traffic. After navigating the city Leonidas and Samantha were back in their neighborhood with three shopping bags and a lot of fatigue. Now that the traveling was over it was time for the pair to part ways.

Samantha opened the door to her home and walked inside to set down the shopping bag in her hand. A few moments later she came back outside and Leonidas handed her the other two shopping bags. She went inside with them and soon returned to speak to him.

"Thanks for going to the mall with me, Leonidas." Samantha thanked him for going with her despite him being tired from his own travels.

"Thanks for inviting me, Samantha." Leonidas replied. Despite the trip coming at an inconvenient time and not being all that exciting for him he was glad that she had thought highly enough of him to invite him. Samantha could have easily invited Janine or another friend, but she had chosen him. Her eyes darted to the right for a moment and focused on something.

"I'd better get going... now..." Samantha trailed off. Leonidas noticed that and she immediately pointed to the right. The scar-faced mage looked in that direction and was unable to spot whatever it was that had caught Samantha's attention.

"I thought I saw a flash of blue like a long scarf or something, but I could be imagining things. At any rate, I'd better get going. I'll see you later, Leonidas." Samantha dismissed what she had saw and bade him farewell. Leonidas considered asking her about what she had seen but decided to let the matter drop.

"All right then. I'll see you later, Samantha." Leonidas bade farewell to her. Once the two blondes had said their goodbyes they parted ways. Samantha went inside her home and shut the door and Leonidas began walking towards his apartment, which was a short distance away.

[Post Word Count: 854]
[Total Word Count: 10,674/11,000]

-Leonidas' Apartment, five hours later-

A cold ham sandwich lay on a plain white plastic plate resting on the beat-up wooden coffee table next to the brown cloth couch that the scar-faced mage was reclining on as a generic mecha anime played on the television sitting on a stand put against the left wall. He was so tired from the trip to and from Silent Cemetery and the trip to Capital Crocus Mall that he could not even be bothered to finish the ham sandwich he had thrown together shortly after parting ways with Samantha Halsey and getting home. Leonidas kept his Silver Falchion propped up nearby against the coffee table in case someone got the bright idea to do a home invasion on him. He doubted that such a thing would happen since he lived in a decent part of town, but he could never rule the possibility out.

Leonidas happened to glance at the lone window to the outside world his apartment had. It was just to the left of his front door and it was covered by a plain white curtain and saw a silhouette that looked like a floating sword hovering just outside his window. The mage blinked. He must have been seeing things.

Leonidas closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again. The silhouette was still there. Either he was really tired or there really was a floating sword hovering just outside his window. Grabbing his Silver Falchion with his left hand, Leonidas got off of the couch and headed for the door with weapon in hand. When he got to the door he put his Silver Falchion in his right hand, unlocked the door with his left hand, reached for the doorknob with his left hand, and carefully opened the front door.

The scar-faced mage looked out onto the street and saw nothing at all. Quickly concealing the sword behind the open door so that he did not frighten anyone who was passing by, Leonidas stuck his head out of the doorframe and peered left, then peered right. He saw nothing to suggest the presence of a floating sword. Confounded by what he had seen but not having any evidence to prove that what he had seen was real, Leonidas pulled his head back inside and shut the door behind him, then locked it back.

Leonidas picked up his Silver Falchion from behind the door and walked back over to his couch, where he put the weapon on the coffee table to keep it within easy reach and reclined on it again.

He had to be seeing things.

There was no way that that floating sword he had met in Silent Cemetery would have followed him to Capital Crocus and it would certainly have not been stalking him in his own neighborhood.

He continued to lay on the couch and stare at the ceiling as the mecha anime played in the background. He was not paying any real attention to it... it was just background noise meant to give the impression that someone was at home. Leonidas would either turn the television off or change the channel to something less noisy when it came time for him to go to sleep. His couch doubled as his bed until he could afford a proper bed... not that he was complaining. Sleeping on the couch certainly beat sleeping on the floor.

Feeling that the time to sleep was near, Leonidas got up from his couch, found the remote for the television on the floor beside him, and turned off the television. He then put the television remote on the coffee table to the left of the plate holding his ham sandwich and stared at the ceiling while thinking back to the odd silhouette he had seen earlier. He highly doubted that the floating sword was somewhere outside his home... it had not chosen him as its master, so it had no reason to follow him here.

Leonidas did not think about the matter for too long because he could not stay awake for much longer. Deciding to give into the urge, he closed his eyes and went to sleep. Maybe he would be able to make more sense of what he had seen in the morning.

[Post Word Count: 712]
[Total Word Count: 11,386/11,000]