I knocked on Loki's Office door. "Miss Loki?" I called out

"Come in, close the door." She responded.

I opened the door, stepping in quickly, and closing the door. "Blondie said you wanted to see me?" Finn raised his head, and an eyebrow, but I shrugged nonchalantly. "I said Blondie, not Finn."

Loki smiled. "Ah, Ais. Yes, I should've know she wouldn't get across the severity of my summons... it's come to my attention that you have been going around Orario, and buying many... things. One or two purchases could be explained, but... so many? So close together? What's up with that? If you're planning on murdering someone, at least let me know in advance, hmm?"

I shook my head. "No, no. Nothing like that. Riviera gave me a list of contracts, which I now know was simply the Contract Wall from the Guild, and gave me two weeks to clear the list, or she would never teach me about magic, ever again. A lot of the tasks were herbs that needed buying, or finding."

Loki tsk'ed. "A rude task. Impossible to do, especially for a Lvl 1..."

"Well... It's been a week, and I only have 3 items left on the list." I refuted her statement slowly. "Only Night Rose, War Shadow Claws, and Dungeon Rowan remain, and I can't get those at my level, so..." I shrugged.

Loki blinked, and Finn sat up slowly, while Garret sat down heavily. Riviera spoke up. "You finished them ? All but ?"

"I had a little help, with the smaller stuff, like finding kittens or lost items, but... yes." I nodded.

Garret began laughing, roaring out full-bellied laughter, and slapped his thighs loudly, while Finn grinned, nodding. "Well done, Dorian... I'm actually impressed."

Loki grinned widely. "I knew you were an Asset to my Familia... and who helped you?"

"Jon helped with the Detective work. He's good at that kind of thing. Give him a Partner to do all the talking, and I think he could solve any mystery." I chuckled.

She hummed. "Still... to Clear the Board... that's never been done. You need to get those last three, so that we can say you actually CLEARED the board... Bete! You seem to not hate him, I want you to go with him to the 9th and 13th floors, get those three ingredients, Right. ."

Bete, who'd been standing behind me, chuckled. "Fun stuff... let's go, Kid."

"What, I'm not a Brat anymore?" I smirked, and followed him out.

He tsk'ed. "Nah. Still not a Warrior, but you're not a Brat."

I shrugged. "I'll take it. What'll it take for you to call me Dorian?"

"What do you have to do so I'll call you by name? Save my life, Kick my ass, or get on my level, Kid." He grinned, and opened the front door.

---

Liquid Shadows started pooling around me, and I tsk'ed. "Bete, expert opinion... can I take them all?"

He shrugged, leaning against the wall. "You'd better, cause I'm not carrying your corpse home."

I grumbled in annoyance, and swung my spear at the first of the four, using the butt as a pole vault to get out from between them all, which was a dangerous position.

My spear entered the back of one of their heads, killing it, and I circled the remaining three slowly, dodging their talons and swiping back with my spear, keeping them at a distance.

One of the three got impatient, and leapt forward, only to impale himself on my spear, and dig his claws into my shoulder. I cut off his hand, then stabbed him in the brain, letting him dissolve with his claws staying behind, embedded in my armor.

I grinned, and stabbed the other two while they backed up, picking up their Magic Stones.

Bete grunted. "Took you long enough. I'm getting old, Kid."

"Shut up, then, old man, and let the youngsters get to their work." I grinned.

He huffed. "Whatever. Come on, we have to get to Floor 9, so we'll have to run. Ignore the monsters, we're not here for them, okay?"

I nodded. "Makes sense. Let's go."

---

I plucked the tiny Rose off the bush, and placed it in it's air-tight jar, leaping away so I could take a breath.

Bete nodded. "All good?"

"Not dead yet, if that's what you're asking." I grunted, standing with a groan, and tucking the small jar into my trophy bag.

He grinned. "A Lvl 1 Rookie and a First Class Adventurer traveling together to the Middle Floors... ha, almost like a dumb book, huh?"

I grinned. "Could be worse. You could be a woman in the story." I shrugged off his withering glare, and cracked my knuckles. "Now let's get going. Dungeon Rowan is all that's left."

He hummed, suddenly serious. "Floor 13... just keep running, okay? Don't try to fight anything, you're not ready for these monsters, not at all."

"Got it." I nodded.

We started sprinting down the floors, taking a straight path, and about three hours of running and dodging groups of monsters later, we reached the Misty Floor 13.

I spotted some trees, and quietly edged towards one close to the entrance.

"Remember, it's carnivorous. Cut a branch off, and let's go." Bete hissed.

I grinned. "Has anyone ever caught a one ?"

"No, and for good reason! It's stupid!"

"Yeah? Well, I'm really good at Not Dying; it's an art form few have mastered... watch and learn, old man." I winked, and then leapt forward, slicing off a branch of the Rowan tree, one I'd selected because it was extremely long, and straight, just like a staff.

The entire tree shifted, and then stood up, the roots acting as limbs.

I grabbed the branch I'd cut off, and whacked the tree's trunk whimsically. "Want the stick, lassie? Come get it!!!" I whistled, and started sprinting away as large monsters started to notice me.

The tree roared, and gave chase, gaining on me a bit, until I tossed the heavy stick to Bete, and sheathed my sword, pouring all my energy into running away.

The monster wasn't getting deterred, but I could tell it was slowly losing strength, slowing down.

I kept it interested in me, whacking it and running ahead, throwing rocks at it, even smaller monsters, after a bit, and it regained a second wind, roaring at me.

I turned and ran again, laughing in exhilaration. "It's like Cow Tipping, but not Ethically Wrong!!!" I cheered loudly.

"What the hell is Cow Tipping?" Bete asked curiously, easily keeping pace with me.

"It's a stupid sport where you see who can pick up a cow, then drop it on its side... for humans, it's a massive feat of strength to pick up a whole cow, especially as it's played by children, mostly. And it's mean, because cows can't get back up if you push them over, like turtles." I explained between breaths.

He hummed, and I snatched a rock, pegging it over my shoulder at the Tree Monster, which roared and started running faster again.

---

We eventually reached the entrance, and slowed from a light jog to a walk, then a stop.

The tree hissed at me weakly, and then sat still, apparently asleep.

"Is it asleep or playing me?" I asked Bete.

"Asleep. You tired him out... never seen that before. Not bad." He shrugged.

I nodded and started to cut all the branches and roots off the Main Trunk, leaving the Tree Monster as a massive log, only able to hiss at me.

I bundled all the sticks together, and slung it over my shoulder. "Uhm... Bete? Would you mind?" I pointed at the Trunk.

He shrugged and picked it up easily, placing it on his shoulder. "Let's go."

I grinned and walked up the stairs, and walked through the line, straight up to the Counter. "Hello again!" I grinned to the man.

He blinked, and I set the jar with the Night Rose, plus the smallest War-Shadow Claw from my shoulder on the counter. "Two of my three remaining contracts, Night Rose and War Shadow Claw... and Number three, Dungeon Rowan? I went above and beyond." I pointed a thumb over my shoulder at the giant tree, which Bete had placed, then disappeared.

The man gasped. "You got an entire Dungeon Rowan Tree Up here?!"

"Plus the accompanying branches and roots." I nodded, dropping the giant bundle, then extricating the one I'd thought looked like a staff, plus another one just like it.

He grinned and took my list, checking all three contracts with a flourish, just as the board emptied, and the entire wall shivered, as if cold, now that it was bare.

"I've never seen that happen..."

"I didn't even think that was possible..."

"Who is this guy?"

Conversations like that started wandering through the crowd, and the Clerk grinned, handing me the empty list. "Well done, Sir. The money for these going to Miss Riviera as well?"

"No, these are mine, plus any reward for clearing the board... I'm sure I heard a rumor that if you cleared the board, the Guild would give a reward in the form of Grimoires..." I hummed.

He blinked. "I'm... I'm not actually sure... I'll ask my manager, while the guards take that Tree to a holding cell, and the branches to the normal place." He waved a hand, standing up and jogging away.

Three large men came, and two picked up the Tree, walking away carefully, while the third gathered the Bundle, Jar, and Claw.

I waited for the Clerk to return, and heard raised voices in the back room, so I sat on the bench next to the Counter, and began whittling the two Branches I'd taken, removing the bark, and smoothing any Knots or bumps.

The door to the back opened suddenly, and the clerk was led out by Ms. Isabelle and a small, portly fellow in an expensive suit. Not a Dwarf, just.. small and portly.

They rounded the counter, and the small man held out a hand. "My my my! I've never, in my days, seen that wall empty like that. impressive, young man! My name is Barnabas Axentar, I'm the Chief of the Guild Scribes, and you are Xavier Dorian, yes?"

I nodded, shaking his hand firmly. "Yes sir, good to meet you, sir."

He grinned. "Good! And your Liaison, Miss Isabelle Vivaldi, has informed me, as has your Clerk, Richard Pranz, that a reward was promised you by the guild, for Completing the Wall of Contracts?"

"Well-"

"Good! Well, you definitely earned it, tooth and nail, so we're more than happy to oblige, sir!" He bulldozed over my voice, and stepped aside.

A tall, skinny being with twelve equally long, skinny limbs, pushed forward a cart, on which sat a bookshelf, covered in books in languages I couldn't read.

"I take it you are Zaz?" I asked.

He blinked, and nodded.

"It's nice to meet you, face-to-face." I held out a hand to shake.

One of his 10 hands gingerly shook mine, and then released quickly. Then he turned and darted back into the relative safety of his Chutes, making me grin. "He's cool." I nodded to Isabelle.

She smiled. "Thanks for not screaming at him. That freaks him out a lot."

I nodded, and then looked at the books. "Wow... thanks, Mr. Axentar, I really appreciate this, and I hope our working relationship continues on this upward, lucrative trajectory." I smiled, and held out a hand to shake.

He grinned and shook my hand heartily. "Well Said, sir, Well Said ! Well, I'll let you continue on, you're a very busy man, no doubt! The money from the contracts will, of course, be transferred to your account in a few minutes." He nodded, and waddled away, laughing to himself softly.

I grinned and looked at Isabelle. "Well this was a good day of hard work, well rewarded... any chance it can be a great night, too? You can show me the nice places to watch the stars around Orario?"

She smiled. "I'm flattered, but not tonight, unfortunately. I have to take Oscar home... maybe next time, hmm?"

I nodded. "Così è la vita... Ti aspetterò, bella rosa." (Such is life... I'll wait, Beautiful Rose.)

She blushed, and walked into the back room quickly.

I grinned, and then hummed at the bookshelf. "How to take you home... ah!" I picked up a large sack nearby, one of a pile of them, (freshly cleaned, and obviously trophy bags, for the bloodier contracts,) then gently stacked the books inside it, disassembling the bookshelf, and placing that in there as well, then tied my two large staffs to the edges, making a large backpack, which I placed on my back.

My spear went into my hand, and I grinned, walking out of the Guild with a happy bit of Pep in my Step.