A Scientific Inquiry

Job Title: 100 Year Free-form
Rank: 100 Year
Category: Uncategorized
Job Location: Anywhere
Solo Word Count: 11,000
Group Word Count: 22,000
Additional Requirements: N/A
Job Description: Whatever the player chooses.
Enemies: Whatever the player chooses.
Reward: 150,000 jewels OR a custom Artifact weapon/armor/item - Must specify which when handing in the job.

Job Sign-Up: Page 12, Post Number 281

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

Wearing her green tank top and green, gold, and white skirt, Leona was busy being awake when she should be asleep. She was reading the book on robotics that Mr. Bank had given her just a few days ago and was still struggling to understand the bulk of the material. She knew that she was wasting her time because she was not properly educated in the subject of robotics, but for once in her life she wanted to meet an intellectual challenge instead of running from it or sidelining it until she forgot about it. Leona read through the first one hundred pages of the book and learned nothing that she did not already know, which was that she would need a lot of electrical wiring and a lot of good-quality steel to build a robot.

Leona felt like she was wasting her time by pretending to be something she was not, but she had to do this. She had to meet an intellectual challenge instead of running from it. She had to prove to the world that there was more to her than being a good fighter, which was hardly a unique skill because most mages had to be good fighters to make it to the higher levels of power. She needed something to set her apart from her Wizard Saint peers other than her hair color. Leona needed to get a proper education so that she could learn the skills needed to produce a robot that would not malfunction when activated.

Leona struggled through another fifty pages of the book and did not learn anything she could use, so she closed the book and sighed in defeat. She was getting nowhere fast. She should have just asked for a weapons schematic so that she could at least make something that was immediately useful, but that was taking the easy way out. Wizard Saints were supposed to face challenges, not run from them. However, Leona was feeling overwhelmed because of a realization that she had come to the other day but was unwilling to admit that it was true.

She was not educated enough to understand what she was reading.

The Wizard Saint suddenly felt the familiar feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy that plagued her from time to time rear their ugly heads.

She was nowhere near smart enough to lead Silver Wolf into the future.

She had gotten both of her titles by being lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

Shaking off those unwanted feelings before they got worse, Leona got up from the desk, pushed her chair in, and walked out of the room to go to the guild cafe. Maybe a cup of coffee would cheer her up enough to think of something other than her numerous intellectual shortcomings. Maybe when she cheered up enough Leona could go to Dr. Reid and ask her for either hands-on training in robotics or the name of a school she could enroll in to study the subject.

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, the guild cafe-

Walking on the floor in her bare feet, Leona walked into the guild cafe and was about to enter it when she saw a guild staff member approach her and hand her a manila envelope that was addressed to her. Leona thanked the guild staff member, then walked into the cafe and sat down at a table to open the envelope and read its contents. She sat down at a square wooden table, opened the envelope, and carefully pulled out the letter within. She set the envelope aside to her left and opened up the neatly folded letter, then began to read it.

"Dear Leona:

I need your help testing a new creation of mine, but I can't tell you what it is in this letter. Please come to Motor City as quickly as possible. The password you'll need to be admitted to my lab is "Titan."

Sincerely,
Dr. Reid"

Leona set the letter down and scooped up the manila envelope it had come in. She would not have time for coffee in the cafe today. Maybe Dr. Reid would be willing to share some of that Motor City Nitro with her while she tested the doctor's newest creation. She pushed in her chair and immediately set out for her room in order to change into more appropriate clothing for the trip to Motor City.

-Leona's room-

Leona entered her room, set the letter and envelope down on her desk, and made a beeline for her wardrobe. She opened the door and pulled out her green, white, and gold outfit top, then grabbed her bike shorts to put on under her skirt. She took off her tank top and carefully put it on the bed, then put on her outfit top. Once it was on Leona put on her bike shorts underneath her skirt, then looked for her boots. She found them sitting close to her desk and grabbed them, then walked over to her wardrobe and grabbed a pair of socks.

Once Leona had put on her clothing she checked her right boot for a knife and found the knife her brother made for her inside its sheath. With a knife concealed in her boot she then walked over to her weapon rack and grabbed her Silver Longsword in its scabbard, then secured the scabbard to her left hip. She then grabbed her backpack of supplies from the wall opposite the foot of her bed and walked out of the room to begin the lengthy trip to Motor City. Leona was really wanting some coffee, so before she left the guild hall she would swing by the cafe again to get a cup of coffee in a to-go cup for the road. Leona was happy that Dr. Reid had sent her the letter because Dr. Reid's request for help had given the Wizard Saint a very good reason to go to Motor City and ask the robotics expert for help in getting an education in the subject.

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-Outside Dr. Reid's laboratory, three hours later-

Having reached the doctor's laboratory without incident, the biggest trouble Leona had was navigating through the bustling city to reach the laboratory. Cars and motorcycles were everywhere on the streets and the sidewalks were full of pedestrians. A few years ago Leona would have been amazed at the sight of so many people in one place, but thanks to her travels in Capital Crocus, the Neutral Grounds, and other cities, the blonde was no longer mesmerized by the big city. Living in Fiore for the past three years had gotten Leona accustomed to life among large numbers of people. Then she yawned and remembered something.

Leona had forgotten to get some coffee at the guild cafe before leaving for Motor City, so she did not quite have the pep in her step that she normally did. She had also forgotten her Argent Gloves, but she could make it without those since she would not be fighting today. The weary Wizard Saint stopped outside the door to the laboratory and pressed the button to the right of the intercom grill.

"Password?" A female voice asked. Leona looked around her to make sure that she had not been followed before answering.

"Titan." Leona gave the password that had been given in the letter.

"Excellent. Give me a moment and I'll let you in!" The voice said. Leona waited outside the door and within a minute the door had been unlocked and Dr. Reid was standing on the other side. Dr. Reid was wearing a midriff-baring pink tank top and khaki cargo shorts with work boots and her long blonde hair looked like she had stuck her finger in an electrical socket. In her right hand was the white cup of coffee with black letters on the front that proclaimed "I'll sleep when I'm dead!" In the cup was the incredibly strong Motor City Nitro coffee.

"Hey Leona! I didn't expect you to get here so soon!" Dr. Reid said to Leona. The Wizard Saint smiled a little.

"I was awake at 6:00 A.M. and couldn't sleep. Your letter came just in time." Leona said to the doctor. Dr. Reid tilted her head.

"Did it now?" Dr. Reid inquired. Leona nodded.

"Yeah. Listen, Doctor, I'd rather not talk about it out here. Do you mind if we go into your laboratory before we talk more?" Leona asked her.

"Yeah, sure! Come on in!" Dr. Reid bade Leona. The Wizard Saint stepped through the door and it was closed and locked behind her.

-In the mini-kitchen, three minutes later-

"So, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Dr. Reid asked Leona while getting a refill of Motor City Nitro. Leona looked at the coffee and wanted some.

"I hate to ask this, but would you mind sharing some of that coffee with me?" Leona asked Dr. Reid for some coffee.

"Oh, sure! I've got plenty! I made a supply run a couple of weeks ago and I have plenty in reserve!" Dr. Reid granted Leona permission to have some of the nectar of the scientists. The doctor walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a spare white mug for Leona, then walked over and handed it to the Wizard Saint. The cup Leona was given did not have any clever saying or amusing slogan on it, but that was fine. All she was worried about was whether or not it would hold coffee.

Leona walked over to the pitcher of coffee and poured a cup, then put the pitcher back in place. She then slowly drank from the mug and felt the caffeine flow through her. She lowered the mug and spoke to the doctor.

"Thanks." Leona thanked her fellow blonde for the gift of coffee.

"Sure thing, Leona. But I have a feeling that you weren't just going to ask to share a cup of coffee. What's on your mind?" The doctor asked Leona before taking a sip of coffee from her mug. Summoning her courage, the Wizard Saint began to tell the doctor what had brought her to Motor City besides helping the doctor with the latter's latest project.

"I'm here to ask you for help, Doctor. A few days ago I was gifted a textbook on robotics and I've been reading it. Unfortunately I'm not educated enough to understand what it's trying to teach me. I know that I need a proper education in the subject before I even begin to build something, so I was going to ask you for help. I was going to ask for either hands-on training or the name of a school that I could apply to to get the proper education." Leona told Dr. Reid. The long-haired blonde took another sip of coffee.

"I'll give it to you straight. That's a tall order, Leona." Dr. Reid said to the Wizard Saint. Leona began to regret even asking for help. Dr. Reid sensed that regret and changed her tone.

"Look, I'm not saying that it can't be done, but it's not going to be easy. You need to know about electronics, programming, mechanics, and other subjects before you can even begin to understand robotics. I know that you're a Wizard Saint and that you don't have the time to go to school because you've got big responsibilities that will eat into your study time. You've also got a guild to run and that won't help either." Dr. Reid tried to let Leona down gently by telling her the truth and not letting the latter get her hopes up only to be hit in the face by reality. Leona could appreciate the doctor's honesty, but the Wizard Saint was hoping that she could learn robotics even if it took her a long time to do so. Leona was hoping to learn something that could help her finally do something that lived up to Silver Wolf's guild mission, but robotics might not be the path she needed to take. Maybe she needed to focus on studying something intellectual like foreign languages... her travels took her to other countries and knowing how to read and speak the language was always a handy skill to have. If she really wanted to work with machines, Leona could look for a program of study that led to becoming a mechanic.

Dr. Reid had raised valid points about her responsibilities as a Wizard Saint and as a guild mistress. The doctor had also raised valid points about those responsibilities cutting into Leona's study time. Robotics was not something that could be studied as a hobby. Leona would need to give studying the subject her total attention and be willing to give up everything else for several years until she earned a degree. The Wizard Saint stood in silence and sipped her coffee while trying to think of how to respond to all the good points Dr. Reid had made.

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Leona stood in awkward silence for several moments as she tried to find a way to respond to those points, but in the she came up with nothing. Since she had sought a professional opinion, it would be best if she heeded it. Leona took another sip from her mug to buy herself a few more moments to think, then lowered the mug and finally spoke.

"You're right, Dr. Reid. I might want to find some other area of technical expertise to focus on instead of robotics. Right now I don't have the time to give up everything and go to a school to study the subject and robotics isn't something you want to rush into." Leona conceded to Dr. Reid. She was a Wizard Saint and she was supposed to seek challenges, but on this occasion the challenge might just be too great to handle. She had responsibilities as both a Wizard Saint and a Guild Mistress to take care of and neither of those responsibilities could be put on hold for her to go to school. She would just have to find something else to study, something less complex. Perhaps she could go to a mechanic school or she could study a foreign language like the language of Midi.

Dr. Reid, perhaps feeling a bit guilty about stomping Leona's ambition into the ground, spoke to her again.

"I hate to burst your bubble like that, Leona, but like you said, robotics isn't something you just rush into. You have to devote years, if not decades, of study to the subject and you have to study and master multiple disciplines." Dr. Reid hammered the point in. Leona remained quiet and did her best to set aside her disappointment. She was not entirely sure if giving up on learning robotics was the best idea because she wanted some return on the book on robotics Mr. Bank had given her, but right now was not the time to press the issue. Dr. Reid had called her here to help with a new project and Leona did not want to jeopardize that working relationship.

"So, you said that you had a project that you needed help with?" Leona asked, quickly changing the subject before her disappointment could surface again. Dr. Reid nodded.

"Yes, Leona. Remember the Hercules Project from several months ago?" Dr. Reid asked Leona. Leona nodded.

"Yes Doctor, I remember it. How did your plan to sell it to local construction companies go?" Leona inquired. Dr. Reid sighed and took another sip of coffee.

"They didn't go for it, did they?" Leona asked. Dr. Reid nodded silently while drowning her sorrows in coffee. Once she drained the mug the long-haired blonde walked towards the coffee pitcher for a refill.

"Unfortunately, no. They didn't want any part of it. They claimed that it'd cost too much money to purchase each suit and too much time and money to train people how to use it." Dr. Reid explained why her project did not sell before refilling her mug with more Motor City Nitro. Leona took a swig from her mug while the doctor began walking towards the garage.

"We have no time for my sorrows, Wizard Saint. Life moves on. Let's begin testing my newest project." Dr. Reid suggested to Leona. Leona nodded and looked down at her mug. It was nearly empty.

"Sure thing, Doctor. Just let me refill my mug first, please." Leona requested that the testing be put off for just long enough for the Wizard Saint to refill her mug. Dr. Reid nodded and granted Leona that time. The Wizard Saint briskly walked over to the pitcher of coffee, refilled her mug, and quickly joined Dr. Reid in the garage.

-In Dr. Reid's garage-

Leona walked into the garage to find it nearly empty except for a few metal crates dotting the garage area, a wooden table with two black headsets on it, and a blue barrel with arms and legs sitting about twenty meters in front of the table. Leona drank from her cup of coffee as Dr. Reid spoke to her.

"Since the Hercules Project didn't go anywhere, I took the liberty of making a new model called the Atlas. It's able to lift heavier loads, has better shock absorbers, and includes other improvements that you suggested for the Hercules. It still doesn't have head protection for the pilot, though. I hope that's not a problem." Dr. Reid introduced the new project to Leona. Leona looked at the inactive suit and was somewhat impressed, but aside from a new coat of paint she did not quite understand what made the Atlas superior to the Hercules. She supposed that she would find out when she got in and activated it.

"Atlas, huh? I can't wait to see what it can do." Leona said to the doctor. Leona took one last sip from the coffee mug before putting it down on the far left side of the table. She then took off her sword belt and laid it on the table, then took the black headset Dr. Reid handed her and put it on. Finally she powered on the headset.

Dr. Reid put on her headset and powered it on. She then motioned for Leona to board the suit. Leona wordlessly walked over to it, climbed on board using the handle on the left shoulder to help her climb on, and carefully turned to face the doctor before gently lowering herself into the seat. She gently lowered her legs into the suit until her feet touched the pedals. Leona then sat in the seat and noted that it had been made wider and more comfortable to sit in for long periods of time.

"OK, Leona, do you remember how to power up the Hercules?" Dr. Reid asked Leona.

"Yes, Doctor. I need to press the button under the thin panel with the gauges, right?" Leona asked Dr. Reid to refresh her memory.

"That's right. The controls of the Atlas are the same as those of the Hercules, so you should be able to get it started with no problems." Dr. Reid answered in the affirmative. Leona looked down inside the chest and quickly located the gauges in question. She found the button and pressed it, gripping the control handles just like last time. To Leona's surprise the Atlas stood upright with much less trouble than the Hercules. The Atlas stood upright with only a modest jolt to the pilot.

"How was the start-up process?" Dr. Reid asked Leona.

"The transition from sitting to upright was a lot smoother than last time. I only felt a mild jolt when it went upright." Leona reported.

"Excellent. Now let's get the testing underway." Dr. Reid said to Leona.

"Understood. Awaiting your instructions." Leona replied as she sat at the controls of the Atlas.

Atlas Project Armor:

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Dr. Reid looked at Leona and gave instructions over the headset for the Wizard Saint's convenience. Leona was eager for the Atlas testing to begin, but she was also anxious. She recalled how her first time stopping the Hercules while in motion had went and hoped that Dr. Reid had installed sufficiently powerful shock absorbers in the Atlas.

"OK, before we begin testing the Atlas, we need to test the headphones." Dr. Reid informed Leona. Leona gave a thumbs-up with her right hand.

"Can you hear me clearly?" Dr. Reid asked Leona. Leona gave a thumbs-up with her right hand again.

"Yes Doctor, I can hear you clearly." Leona replied calmly while sitting at the controls and waiting for instructions. Dr. Reid smiled.

"Good. Now, turn the suit around and walk until I tell you to stop." Dr. Reid instructed Leona. Leona recalled how to turn the suit and gently put her feet on each pedal, then gently turned each control stick right. The Atlas began moving right and once she had performed a 180-degree turn she returned the control sticks to the neutral position and kept her feet on the pedals. The Atlas moved forward at a walking pace while Leona kept her eyes straight ahead and kept her ears open for the doctor's command to halt.

"OK, stop the suit." Dr. Reid instructed. Leona took her feet off of the pedals and the suit came to a smooth stop about five meters from the wall.

"Now turn the suit around and walk towards me at half-speed until I tell you to stop." Dr. Reid issued her next command and Leona wordlessly obeyed. She repeated the turning process and faced Dr. Reid, then took her left foot off of the left pedal and the Atlas moved forward at half-speed. Leona kept her eyes on the doctor while moving forward and waited for the command to stop. The command came when Leona was within five meters of the doctor and Leona took her right foot off the right pedal, causing the suit to come to a smooth stop.

"OK Leona, I think you know what comes next. It's time to test the dash feature. Turn the suit around and face the opposite wall, then engage the dash feature." Dr. Reid informed Leona of the next step in the testing.

"Understood." Leona replied calmly. She performed the turning process and completed it without a hitch, then gripped the control sticks tightly. Once she was mentally prepared she raised both feet and pressed down hard on both foot pedals at once.

Leona was propelled forward and covered 60 meters in roughly three seconds. She hardly felt the sudden boost in speed thanks to the shock absorbers, but then something unexpected happened. The suit shut down on her and it CLANGED to the ground!

"Um, Doctor... the suit just shut down on me after I completed the dash. What do I do?" Leona asked Dr. Reid for instructions. The Wizard Saint heard muttered swearing on the other end that lasted for several seconds before the doctor got back to her with instructions.

"OK, that sounds like a power generator problem. Perhaps trying to squeeze a little more distance out of the dash function wasn't the smartest idea. I thought that the generator could handle the additional output needed to perform a dash that covered more ground than the Hercules, but apparently I was wrong. Wait a minute and then power the suit on again." Dr. Reid gave a description of the source of the problem and advice on how to solve it. Leona wordlessly waited a full minute, then pressed the power button. The Atlas came to life again and stood upright without any trouble.

"OK Doctor, the Atlas is operational again. Everything looks to be in order. Wait a minute, the temperature gauge is more than a little over halfway into the red." Leona informed the doctor while looking down at the temperature gauge above and to the right of the power button.

"Oh great... it's threatening to overheat! Turn the suit around and walk towards me at full speed. I want you to bring it in for an examination." Dr. Reid gave her next command. Leona faced forward, turned the suit around, and began walking towards the doctor at full speed until she was ordered to stop five meters from the doctor. When the order was given Leona obeyed.

"Now power down the suit for me." Dr. Reid ordered. Leona powered down the suit and waited until it had powered down completely, then climbed out of the Atlas and jumped down, landing gracefully on both feet a short distance from the doctor. Dr. Reid walked over to Leona.

"I'm gonna have to examine the Atlas' systems after the problem you described to me. It's gonna take awhile... at least two hours. I'm gonna go get my tools. Take a break and I'll call you back when we're ready to resume testing." Dr. Reid informed Leona that it would be awhile before testing the Atlas resumed. Leona nodded and walked over to the table, grabbing the plain white mug of coffee and walking towards the mini-kitchen to pour out the cold coffee and get some warmer coffee. So far Leona was liking the Atlas, but unless the power generator and overheating problems were resolved this test would not get very far. Fortunately both problems had popped up only when the dash function was engaged... the Atlas had worked perfectly fine up until the dash function testing.

Leona walked into the mini-kitchen as Dr. Reid began to look for the tools needed to fix the Atlas before testing could resume. The Wizard Saint would have offered to help Dr. Reid with the repairs, but the former had no idea what she was doing and offering help while being untrained in how to repair the Atlas would only do more harm than good. The Atlas was a complicated piece of machinery that the Wizard Saint could not just learn to fix in a matter of minutes. Dr. Reid would have to teach her how to repair it and the doctor did not have the time to spare for on-the-job training at the moment, so Leona would stand back and let the doctor do her work without interruption. The Wizard Saint only hoped that there was no damage to the Atlas that would make further testing impossible.

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-Inside the garage, three hours and forty-five minutes later-

Leona stood just outside the mini-kitchen and was watching Dr. Reid, who had just finished examining the internal components of the Atlas and was in the process of fixing some part Leona could not identify. The Wizard Saint kept her distance and kept quiet so that the doctor could do her work in peace. The wait was boring beyond description, but patience was a virtue.

Since there was nothing she could do to help, Leona silently went back into the mini-kitchen and waited patiently for the doctor to come in and either call for her to resume testing the Atlas or to tell her that that further testing would need to be postponed.

-Inside the mini-kitchen, two hours later-

Sitting quietly at a small square table with her arms folded across her chest, Leona was waiting patiently for Dr. Reid to enter the mini-kitchen and give her an update, but she was starting to lose patience. Just what was taking so long? Was the problem with the Atlas worse than the Wizard Saint suspected?

The moment Leona was about to get up and go check on Dr. Reid the doctor walk into the room with a serious look on her face.

"I've got good news and bad news, Leona." Dr. Reid announced. Leona made eye contact with the doctor to indicate she was listening but kept quiet so that the doctor could talk. Leona silently braced herself for the news.

"The good news is that I managed to do a patch job on the suit's power generator so that we can resume testing the Atlas." Dr. Reid gave Leona the good news first.

"The bad news is that the power generator was taxed to the limit when you tested the dash function. I don't know how much time we have before the patch job I did gives out, so I need you to get in the Atlas and resume testing pronto." Dr. Reid then gave Leona the bad news.

"OK, Doctor. I'm on the way." Leona said, getting up from the table, pushing the chair back under the table, and walking briskly into the garage.

-Inside the garage-

Leona hurried over to the wooden table where she had placed her headset, grabbed it, and powered it on, then ran over to the Atlas. Once she reached it she gripped the bar on the left shoulder, pulled herself onto the suit, then turned around and faced the doctor before lowering herself into the suit. The Wizard Saint then located and pressed the power button, causing the Atlas to stand up straight.

"Wow Leona, you move fast. Now let's do some strength and grip testing. Do you see one of those metal crates?" Dr. Reid complemented Leona on the speed with which she got into the Atlas and got the Atlas up and running. Leona turned the suit right and saw a medium-sized metal crate sitting about eight meters from her.

"I see one about eight meters away." Leona answered.

"Walk over to it and grab it. Then once you grab it, lift it." Dr. Reid instructed. Leona got the suit moving and walked towards the crate, then stopped in front of the crate in question and used the control sticks to maneuver the arms. Once the arms were within grabbing distance Leona pressed and held the red buttons on top of the control sticks to open the suit's hands. She then slowly and patiently brought the arms inward until the hands touched the crate, then released the buttons to make the hands close around the object.

"I've successfully grabbed the crate. I'm lifting it now." Leona informed the doctor. Leona then used the control sticks to raise the arms as high as they could go and the crate remained firmly in the suit's grip as it was lifted. Once she had raised the arms as high as they could go she notified the doctor.

"Good work, Leona. Now I want to see how the Atlas handles walking while carrying a heavy load. I want you to walk around with the crate and go where I tell you to go. Since you can't see through the crate, you'll have to follow my directions to the letter." Dr. Reid told Leona about the next test.

"Understood. Tell me what to do." Leona replied.

"Walk forward at half speed until I tell you to stop." Dr. Reid gave the first command. Leona took her foot off of the left pedal and kept her foot on the right to move at half the Atlas' normal walking speed. She moved until she was instructed to stop.

"OK, now stop. Once you've come to a complete stop, turn right and face the garage door the best you can, then begin walking at full speed until I tell you to halt." Dr. Reid gave the next set of instructions. Leona turned right until she was facing the garage door, then put her foot back on the left pedal and began walking at full speed until ordered to stop.

"OK, stop! Now turn right and walk at half speed, then stop when I tell you to." Came the next set of instructions. Leona stopped, turned the suit right, and took her foot off of the left pedal. It began to move at half speed and Leona kept moving until she was told to stop.

"Now stop and turn left, then walk at full speed until I tell you to halt!" Dr. Reid commanded. Leona stopped, turned the suit left, and then began moving forward at full speed. She listened out for the order to halt and when it was given immediately stopped moving.

"Now set the crate down." Dr. Reid ordered. Leona slowly moved the control sticks to lower the arms, then once she heard the crate's bottom touch the ground she pressed and held the red buttons to open the hands and release the crate. Once the crate was safely released Leona moved the hands away from the crate, then closed them and brought the arms back to the starting position.

"Excellent work, Leona. How are the gauges looking?" Dr. Reid asked Leona. The Wizard Saint looked down at the gauges and paid special attention to the temperature gauge. The temperature gauge's needle was hovering around the yellow area.

"Everything looks fine with the exception of the temperature gauge. The needle's hovering around the yellow area." Leona informed Dr. Reid.

"That sounds like a problem with the cooling system. I'll have to work on it later. We'll be fine as long as it doesn't go into the red. Right now we need to keep testing the Atlas." Dr. Reid told the Wizard Saint the nature of the problem and stated that repairs would be postponed in favor of testing the Atlas while they still could. Leona let the matter drop and asked the doctor for further instructions.

"OK, Doctor. What do I need to do now?" Leona asked Dr. Reid while keeping an eye on the temperature gauge. The needle was remaining in the yellow area at the moment, but as long as it did not go into the red everything would be fine. She just hoped that the patch job on the power generator would hold long enough for the testing to be finished.

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"OK, we've tested the Atlas' mobility and it passed everything... including the dash test, if you want to include that. We've also done strength and grip testing. We've also tested the Atlas' ability to walk while carrying a heavy container and it passed that test too." Dr. Reid listed the tests that Leona had put the Atlas through so far. Leona listened to the doctor while keeping an eye on the temperature gauge. So far the needle was in the yellow zone, which meant that it was between safe and unsafe operating temperatures.

"What else can we do?" Leona asked Dr. Reid in an effort to politely get her back on task. Dr. Reid tapped her right foot on the floor and put her hands on her hips while she thought the matter over before answering the Wizard Saint. She then raised a finger in a "Eureka!" moment.

"Well, I want to do another strength test. Let's see if the Atlas can lift and carry a crate with just one hand!" Dr. Reid came up with another test for the Atlas. It sounded like the long-haired blonde had come up with that test on the fly just to give Leona something to do, but the Wizard Saint was not complaining. She was getting to test a mechanized suit that no one else except the doctor herself had ever tested and that was pretty exciting.

"OK, let's see if the Atlas can do that." Leona agreed to try to pick up a crate and carry it with just one hand. Leona walked over to the crate, gently moved only the right control stick and maneuvered the arm until the hand touched the crate, and pressed the button to close the hand around the crate.

"OK, I've gripped the crate. I'm going to try and lift it now." Leona notified Dr. Reid. She moved the control stick and lifted the right arm as high as it would go, but it was straining under the weight of the metal crate. The crate itself teetered on one side and moved off the floor a little, but each time Leona tried to lift it completely off the ground with just the right hand the crate stubbornly refused to be lifted. It was time to tell the doctor that this test might not be a good idea.

"Um, Doctor... the crate's not going anywhere. I'm afraid that if I keep trying to lift it with one hand I'll strain the suit too much." Leona expressed her concern to Dr. Reid.

"Hmm... point taken. If we keep trying to lift it without a fully repaired power generator we might be courting disaster. Release the crate, if you will." Dr. Reid gave Leona permission to end the test. Leona wordlessly released the crate and it CLANGed back to its starting position. She then gently closed the right hand and brought the right arm back to the starting position just in time for the suit to power down again. The suit quickly lowered itself to the ground, causing the Wizard Saint to yelp in surprise.

"The suit's powered down again, Doctor." Leona informed Dr. Reid. The blonde scientist began swearing under her breath for several moments. Leona could not make out exactly what was being said, but even without understanding the words it was obvious that Dr. Reid was not happy with this development.

"It sounds like the patch job on the power generator finally gave up the ghost. If you would, wait a full minute and try to power on the Atlas again." Dr. Reid diagnosed the problem and requested that Leona wait a minute before powering on the suit again. Leona obligingly waited the full minute and pressed the power button. The Atlas did not activate.

"I tried to power it on after a full minute. Nothing happened." Leona informed Dr. Reid that the first attempt to reactivate the Atlas was a failure.

"Wait another minute and try again." Dr. Reid ordered Leona. Leona waited another full minute between attempts and then pressed the power button again. The Atlas remained an inanimate hunk of metal.

"The second attempt didn't work." Leona laconically reported. Dr. Reid groaned in frustration.

"Try one last time, Leona. If the third time doesn't work, then just get out and leave the damn thing where it is!" Dr. Reid brusquely ordered Leona. The Wizard Saint wordlessly complied and waited another full minute before trying one last time to power on the suit. She pressed the power button one last time and hoped that this time the suit would activate.

It did not activate.

"The third time didn't work either, Doctor." Leona broke the bad news to Dr. Reid. Dr. Reid groaned in frustration before giving a sigh.

"Just get out of the Atlas, Leona. You've done all you can for me today. I'll have to do a lot of repairs to the suit before we test it again." Dr. Reid gave Leona permission to get out of the suit and leave it. Leona wordlessly climbed out of the Atlas, jumped off of it, and landed gracefully on both feet. She then walked over to Dr. Reid, who was already approaching the suit with her toolbox in hand.

"I'm sorry about the Atlas, Doctor." Leona tried to console the doctor for her project not quite working as intended. Dr. Reid ignored the effort at consolation and walked past the Wizard Saint to get to the Atlas. She stopped in front of the suit, set the toolbox on the ground, and grabbed a few tools.

She went to with her tools almost immediately. Leona watched as Dr. Reid worked until the chestplate came off and the internal components were exposed. The doctor took one look and frowned, then turned to Leona.

"The power generator's offline. It's gonna take a lot of work to fix. A LOT. I estimate that it'll be at least a month before the Atlas is ready to be tested again." Dr. Reid gave an estimate for when the Atlas would be ready for a second full round of testing. Leona folded her arms across her chest and replied to the estimate.

"You don't have to hurry on my account, Doctor. Take your time and do what you have to to completely fix the Atlas." Leona told the doctor not to rush the repairs on the Wizard Saint's account. Dr. Reid completely ignored what Leona had said and turned back to face the suit.

"This is gonna take so much time to fix. So much time." Dr. Reid complained to no one in particular. Leona could tell that Dr. Reid was genuinely upset with the setbacks the Atlas Project had suffered today. There was no telling how much time and money had been poured into creating the Atlas and it was safe to say that Dr. Reid had an interest in seeing her latest project succeed.

[Post Word Count: 1,154]
[Total Word Count: 6,770/11,000]

-Three hours later, the garage-

The Atlas Project had suffered from a problem with the power generator that rendered it unable to be tested any more today. Dr. Reid was not happy with the outcome and faced at least a month of repairs before the Atlas would be operational again. Leona felt bad for the doctor because the latter had spent so much time, money, and effort making the Atlas Project and it had not lived up to expectations, to put it lightly. The Wizard Saint had never seen Dr. Reid so flustered over a failure... or so determined to fix something.

Dr. Reid had long ago taken off the chestplate that covered the power generator and other vital internal components and she was already working on fixing the problem. Since the testing was incomplete and the suit would not be ready until at least a month from now, if not longer, Leona did not have much to do here. The doctor did not have time to give her on-the-job training on how to fix the Atlas and Leona was not going to waste time asking for said training, so Leona was thinking about just going back to Silver Wolf Guild Hall and finding a foreign language to begin studying. Going home and finding a language to study would beat standing around here and watching the doctor work.

"If there's nothing else for me to do here, Doctor, I'll just be on my way back to the guild hall." Leona informed Dr. Reid that if the Wizard Saint was not needed she would just go home.

"Sure, Leona. Since you don't have any real technical skills to speak of, there's not much for you to do here. I'll let you know when the Atlas is ready again." Dr. Reid dismissed Leona without even bothering to look at the Wizard Saint. The Wizard Saint felt like she had been unceremoniously kicked to the curb once the Atlas testing had to be postponed, but what Dr. Reid said was true. Leona did not have any real technical skills that would help repair the Atlas, so she would only be taking up space if she hung around. It was best just to go home and find something to do instead of hanging around here.

"OK, Doctor. I'll see you then. I'll see myself out." Leona said to Dr. Reid. The doctor did not even bother responding to Leona's farewell. Leona took that as her cue to grab her gear and leave, so she did just that. She walked over to the wooden table, grabbed her Silver Longsword, grabbed her backpack, and left Dr. Reid to do her work in peace. She walked through the open door connecting the mini-kitchen to the doctor's house and let herself out the front door, locking it back behind her and making sure that it was locked and shut before she left the doctor's house and began making her way out of Motor City.

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, Leona's room, four hours later-

Having long since taken care of the paperwork that had been waiting on her when she returned from Motor City and having changed into her green tank top and green, white, and gold skirt, Leona now sat at the desk in her room trying to figure out what to do tomorrow... and going over the doctor's words to her before they parted ways.

"Since you don't have any real technical skills to speak of, there's not much for you to do here."

Leona knew that Dr. Reid was telling the truth when she claimed that Leona had no technical skills to speak of. The doctor was not lying, but something about that statement made Leona feel like she had been dismissed as an uneducated desert bumpkin playing at being a scientist. It felt like Dr. Reid did not see any potential in Leona at all.

It felt like Dr. Reid did not even seriously consider Leona's request for the names of schools where she could learn the skills necessary to build and maintain robots.

Leona frowned as she thought about the treatment Dr. Reid had given her before and after the Atlas testing.

It felt like Dr. Reid was afraid that if she helped Leona the Wizard Saint would one day surpass her, so she was deliberately keeping a potential rival from gaining access to the education needed to work with robots.

Leona did not care about becoming a world-renowned robotics expert and surpassing Dr. Reid. She did not care who got credit for the Atlas Project. The Wizard Saint just wanted to learn a scientific skill so that she could finally do her part to aid Silver Wolf's guild mission.

Leona saw the book of robotics that Mr. Bank had given her lying on her desk and frowned deeper.

Mr. Bank knew exactly what he was doing when he gave her the book as a "trade."

He was insulting her because he knew that she was not smart enough to make use of it.

Leona wordlessly stood up from the desk, pushed her chair in, and looked towards her room door. Her frustration with her lack of skills was getting to her and she was starting to let it cloud her mind. She needed to leave her room immediately and walk it off. Maybe she should go to the guild cafe and get some coffee... or at least walk around the guild hall for a change of scenery.

With that modest goal in mind Leona left her room to go get some coffee and hopefully come back with a more positive mindset than the one she had now.

[Post Word Count: 944]
[Total Word Count: 7,714/11,000]

-The next morning, Leona's room-

Leona woke up in somewhat of a better mood than she was in before she went to sleep. Last night she was displeased with how casually Dr. Reid had dismissed her interest in learning robotics, but now Leona was not nearly as angry as she was. She was still more than a little displeased about how the inquiry into ways of learning robotics had went, but the Wizard Saint could live with the disappointment. Today she would find something to do that used what skills she already had.

Leona had modest skills in forging old-fashioned metal weaponry that also had magical properties. After all, she had made the Nightshade Machete with a minimum of assistance from others. The most help she had gotten was former guildmate Eero Saarinen sharing a length of his harvested vine with her to give her a second ingredient for the machete after a search for mandrake had come up with nothing.

Leona could also learn new languages without too much difficulty. She was interested in learning the language of Midi, but she had never gotten around to it because a task of higher priority usually came up just when she thought that she had time to devote to studying a new language. Now might be the time to look for a tutor in the language of Midi and learn at least the basics of it before her next visit to that country.

Leona might go to the library and do research on ingredients with which to make a better knife than the ones she had now. She was putting a particular emphasis on ingredients which could grant the new weapon a degree of anti-armor ability. Another avenue of research was making a knife that could harm supernatural entities so that if her Silver Longsword was taken away or was otherwise made unavailable she would still be able to fight ghosts.

Or she could go back into space with the aid of the Infinite Improbability Chronometer. She was sure that Annette Larson would be glad to see her again and would be happy to give her a guided tour of the space station Leona had visited months ago. But then Leona remembered that it had not quite been six months since her first trip to the station and the repairs might still be underway, so it would be a good idea to just wait the full six months or so before going back into space.

Once she postponed her returned to space the Wizard Saint had two activities to choose from and both of them were worthwhile. She also had plenty of time in which to do them because today she had nothing important scheduled. She just needed to pick a task and pursue it.

But before she did either of them, first she needed to get out of bed.

Leona sat up, swung her body around to face the door, and put her feet over the edge of the bed, then stood up. She stood in place for a few moments before taking a few slow steps forward. Once she was moving she straightened out her green, white, and gold skirt and then straightened out her green tank top before wordlessly walking by her desk with the book on robotics Mr. Bank had given her sitting on top of it. Leona did not pay it much attention... one day she might be able to make use of it, but without the proper education today was not that day.

Leona left her room to go take a shower. Once she did that she would get dressed and pick either going to the library to study magic ingredients for a possible new magic weapon or looking for a language tutor who could teach her the language of Midi. She would decide which activity to pursue once she had gotten dressed.

-One hour later, Leona's room-

After taking a shower that was longer than she had counted on taking Leona was back in her room. She had changed into her blue athletic shirt and blue, white, and gold skirt so that she would be dressed if a guild staff member needed her for something and would change into the blue outfit top once she finally decided what she wanted to do today. She would need to make a decision soon.

But first it was time for coffee.

Walking out of her room to go get some coffee before she decided on a course of action, Leona left her room behind and went towards the guild cafe to get some much-needed coffee.

-Thirty minutes later, Leona's room-

Having returned from her coffee break, Leona was full of caffeine but was still uncertain about what idea to pursue. Both the research into magic ingredients and studying the language of Midi were worthwhile pursuits. Both of them had advantages that made pursuing them appealing. However, Leona would have to choose one to start today and put the other on her already long to-do list and hope that she could get around to it one day in the future.

Still unable to make a decision, Leona thought about which option would benefit her more if she started looking into it today. Once she began thinking in those terms a previously difficult decision had become just a little bit easier to make. She was leaning towards the knife.

Leona frequently found herself fighting one kind of enemy or another, so doing research on magic ingredients for a new weapon was a good idea. She also found herself going into the Cursed Lands a lot, so having another weapon besides her Silver Longsword or Shoki that could harm supernatural entities was another reason to research ingredients for a new knife. The more she thought about it the easier choice was becoming.

After thinking through the matter for a few moments longer Leona decided to pay a visit to the guild library and start researching ingredients with which to make either an anti-armor knife or a knife that could harm ghosts. With her mind made up, Leona left her room to go pay a visit to the guild library for the first time in a long time. It had been only months since her last visit, but so much time had passed that it might as well have been centuries.

[Post Word Count: 1,060]
[Total Word Count: 8,774/11,000]

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, the library-

Sitting in the far left corner of the library, Leona sat at a wooden table with a thick green book on magic ingredients in front of her and a notebook with pencil to her right. She was reading through the book to learn about any potential interesting combinations of ingredients that could be used to create a magic weapon. She was particularly interested in any combinations that led to making a weapon with some degree of anti-armor ability or the ability to harm supernatural beings.

Leona read through the book and was not finding much of interest so far. So far she had only read mundane formulas for making weapons that were particularly effective against plant life and the key ingredient of those formulas was nightshade. Leona already knew about that since she had crafted her Nightshade Machete years ago, so she did not bother to write any of the formulas down. She carefully turned the page and found a formula of mild interest, which was one for creating a weapon with ice effects.

Leona carefully turned through thirteen more pages and found something that was interesting. It was a formula for creating a weapon with sonic properties and the key ingredient was mandrake root. The blonde recalled her adventure to Spooky Forest with former guildmate Eero Saarinen and how while in the forest she had tried to find mandrake plants to make a sound-based weapon but could not find any because it had all been harvested. In the absence of mandrake Leona had been forced to settle for gathering nightshade instead; with Eero's generous donation of part of a vine he had harvested for his weapon Leona had ultimately ended up creating her Nightshade Machete, a weapon that was particularly effective against plant life and a weapon that could temporarily extend its length to have a little more reach than opponents expected.

Leona read the formula with interest and noted the warning on how mandrake needed to be pulled up by someone other than the harvester because the plant screamed when pulled out of the ground. Anyone who pulled it up heard its scream and either died on the spot or was driven to insanity by the noise... the warning was not exactly clear on which unpleasant consequence happened, but it made it abundantly clear that a would-be harvester should be well away from the plant when it was pulled up. Leona made sure to write that warning down in her notebook in case she got any ideas of looking for mandrake to create her first choice of magic weapon from a little over two years ago.

Once she had written down the warning for future reference she continued to read and learn about the various combinations of mandrake that could be used for making weapons.

Leona had just started reading about a formula that needed mandrake and nightshade when a guild staff member walked in bearing an envelope. She handed it to Leona and left the Wizard Saint to read it. Leona saw that it came from Motor City. Her curiosity piqued, Leona carefully opened the envelope and gently pulled out the letter contained within. She then unfolded it and began to read.

"Dear Wizard Saint:

I know that this is sudden, but I'd like for you to come visit my lab again. There's something that I'd like to talk to you about. The password for today is Clarke." The letter read.

Leona set the brief letter down on the table and looked at it again. She was halfway tempted to go hear what Dr. Reid had to say, but she was not sure that she wanted to put her own research on hold just to be told what she already knew about not having any technical ability. Leona knew that she was not very smart and did not need to be reminded of that fact.

The Wizard Saint took a deep breath.

She was starting to slip back into the negative mindset she had struggled to get out from under last night.

Leona was a Wizard Saint. She was supposed to set aside her pride and emotions for the benefit of everyone. She could not afford to let her pride and emotions ruin a working relationship with Dr. Reid. Leona took a deep breath.

She would be going back to Motor City after all.

Leona gently closed the book, put the letter back in the envelope, put the book back on the shelf where she had found it, and took the envelope with her as she went to her room to gather a few items before she went to Motor City. Chief among them were her weapons. All she needed was her Silver Longsword and one of her knives to go in her right boot. She also intended to switch out her blue athletic shirt for the outfit top that went with her skirt.

-Outside Dr. Reid's Laboratory, three hours later-

Standing outside Dr. Reid's laboratory in front of the intercom grille, Leona took a deep breath before pressing the button.

"Password?" Dr. Reid asked.

"Clarke." Leona replied. Seconds later the door opened and Dr. Reid herself greeted Leona. Dr. Reid was wearing the same outfit she had worn yesterday and in her hand was the same mug of coffee she had drank from yesterday. Leona hoped that the doctor had at least rinsed the mug out before reusing it.

"Hello, Leona. Sorry to call you here on such short notice, but there's something that I'd like to talk to you about." Dr. Reid informed Leona. She then motioned for the Wizard Saint to enter. Leona wordlessly obliged and once she was inside the door was shut and locked behind her.

[Post Word Count: 960]
[Total Word Count: 9,734/11,000]

-Inside the mini-kitchen-

Standing inside the mini-kitchen with Dr. Reid, Dr. Reid had poured herself a new cup of coffee and was slowly sipping from it. Leona stood facing the doctor with her arms folded across her chest. Despite her resolve to not let her personal feelings affect how she treated Dr. Reid, she wished that the doctor would hurry up and tell her why she had called for the Wizard Saint. If Dr. Reid was going to stand around and sip coffee then Leona would just go back to the guild hall and pick up her own research project where she had left off.

"So tell me... why did you call me here? Are you still fixing the Atlas Project?" Leona asked Dr. Reid to get the conversation going. Dr. Reid lowered the coffee mug and spoke to Leona.

"Yes, the Atlas Project is still being repaired. It's still gonna take a month or longer to fix, but that's not what I called you here for." Dr. Reid informed Leona that the Atlas would still need time to be repaired before adding that that was not the reason the latter had been called here. Leona was interested. Dr. Reid, seeing that she currently had the Wizard Saint's full attention, decided to talk while she still commanded it.

"I wanted to talk to you about something else. About what you asked me yesterday." The doctor finally cut to the chase. Leona fought the surge of emotion that she felt when the subject was brought up. She wanted Dr. Reid to either give her what she had asked for or to quash any hopes of studying robotics, not string her along.

"I still stand by what I said yesterday. You've got to devote a lot of time and effort to studying robotics and I don't think you have that kind of time to spare, so I won't get your hopes up. I can't help you learn robotics and I won't give you the names of any schools, Leona." Dr. Reid finally told Leona in no uncertain terms. The Wizard Saint involuntarily smiled a little. Finally she could quit wasting her time on fantasizing about doing something she was never going to do... not right now, anyway.

"OK. I've put studying that on the back burner anyway." Leona said calmly. She had moved past that yesterday when she realized that she was not nearly smart enough to pursue the field of robotics. Instead she would spend her time on other pursuits like learning foreign languages or making magical weapons. Dr. Reid blinked when she heard Leona's calm reply.

"Um, that's not quite what I expected you to say." Dr. Reid commented awkwardly.

"It's no big deal, doctor. I've accepted that I'm not going to be able to give robotics the time and focus needed to really study it, so I've decided to put studying it on hold for the time being." Leona replied calmly. There was no point in getting upset about something she was not going to be able to do right now. She figured that she was showing courage in admitting that there was something that she just could not do yet, but instead it might come across as her quitting when confronted with an obstacle instead of persevering in the face of difficulties. Whether Leona was being realistic or just being a quitter would be for Dr. Reid to decide.

"Well... that's totally not what I expected. I expected an angry response like accusations that I was deliberately holding you back by withholding the information." Dr. Reid confessed to Leona. Leona remained silent for a moment because that was exactly what she had thought last night, but fortunately she did not have to speak because the doctor quickly changed the subject.

"But that's not important any more. I called you here to do some testing for me, but you're not testing a construction suit." Dr. Reid then informed her.

"Really?" Leona asked. Dr. Reid nodded.

"If you'll follow me to the garage, I'll show you what I'm talking about." Dr. Reid said. She walked towards the garage and Leona wordlessly followed behind her to see what she would be testing on behalf of the doctor.

-Inside the garage-

Leona walked into the garage just behind Dr. Reid and noticed that everything in the garage was in exactly the same place it had been left yesterday. The Atlas had been disassembled exactly where Leona had parked it, the metal crates had been left where they stood, and the wooden table had the headsets lying exactly where they had been placed when Atlas testing had come to a halt.

However, there was a new addition to the table. On the table sat a black visor that looked futuristic; it was black with a nosepiece and earpieces that were silver and a small switch located on top of the right earpiece. Dr. Reid walked over to it and took it in her hands, then walked towards Leona.

"Here you go, Leona. Here's a little side project of mine that I'd like you to try out for me." Dr. Reid said to Leona. Leona obligingly put the visor on and looked at Dr. Reid.

"OK. What does it do?" Leona asked the doctor while looking at her fellow blonde through the dark visor.

"Well, it's mean to be a device that lets you see on the infrared spectrum. You know, heat signatures and such. Try it out!" Dr. Reid urged Leona. Leona obligingly flipped the switch on and saw Dr. Reid glowing bright red. Then the image flickered briefly before the visor turned off altogether. Leona turned the switch off, then on again. The visor still refused to work.

"Um, Doctor... I hate to tell you this, but your visor just quit working. It shut off on me while I was looking at you." Leona informed Dr. Reid. The doctor frowned and balled her hands into fists.

"Damn it! NOT AGAIN! I just fixed it last week!" She fumed. Leona took off the visor and handed it to Dr. Reid. The fuming doctor walked over to the table, then set the visor on it and turned back to Leona.

"Well, that test is a no-go. Sorry to waste your time like that, Leona. Do you want some coffee?" Dr. Reid asked Leona.

"Sure." Leona replied. Together the two blondes walked out of the garage and back into the mini-kitchen to drink some coffee before Leona headed back home and Dr. Reid resumed work on the Atlas. Maybe some coffee would improve Dr. Reid's less-than-cheerful mood.

[Post Word Count: 1,102]
[Total Word Count: 10,836/11,000]

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, Leona's Room, four hours later-

Having returned to the guild hall after her trip to Dr. Reid's laboratory, Leona sat on her bed and thought about what she was going to do for her next side project since robotics was a no-go.

Dr. Reid's Atlas Project had currently been put on hold and the infrared visor Dr. Reid had wanted her to test in the field had malfunctioned, leaving Leona with nothing to do for the doctor. Dr. Reid had apologized profusely for wasting Leona's time and had promised to get in contact with the Wizard Saint when she had something functioning for Leona to test. Now Leona was waiting for word from the doctor when she had something new for the Wizard Saint to test for her.

Until then Leona was free to pursue her research into magic ingredients for a new weapon. She was also free to look for a tutor to teach her the language of Midi. Earlier she had wavered on which project she was going to pursue first, but on the way home Leona had made up her mind once and for all.

Tomorrow Leona would resume her research on magic ingredients to use in the creation of a new weapon.

Formulas using mandrake seemed like they had considerable potential to make a useful weapon, but Leona would look into all her options before choosing an ingredient or two for her new weapon. She would head to the guild library first thing in the morning and resume her research while her enthusiasm for the project was at its peak. It was important for Leona to do the research while she was focused on it before something inevitably sidetracked her and consigned the personal project to her lengthy to-do list of things that never seemed to actually be done.

With that decided, Leona decided to try and get some sleep before morning arrived. Leona swung her feet around, reclined on the bed, and stared at the ceiling until she went to sleep. Tomorrow she would go to the library and not leave it until she had researched every magic ingredient that could produce a useful effect when applied to a weapon.

Then Leona had second thoughts.

She did not have to research every magic ingredient, just the ones that interested her. Leona had neither the patience nor the focus to examine every last magic ingredient in that thick green book she had been reading earlier, so it would be best to pick just a few of the best options and write them down, then determine whether it was feasible for her to pursue gathering the chosen ingredients or not. That would be a better use of time and focus than reading the entire book and trying to copy it.

Having decided on how to pursue her latest side project, Leona was finally able to settle down long enough to go to sleep.

[Post Word Count: 490]
[Total Word Count: 11,326/11,000]