Mathew leaned against his bed and waited for Leo to finish reading the stack of papers. He spent the last six hours writing out the contracted deal between himself and General Payne. In the end, it was six pages long. In all honesty, Mathew only needed the first two, however he wanted to experiment with what The Council of Order would allow and disallow him to do.

The information booklet he read summarized the council as the overseers of all legal dealings in the universe, including The System. A group of people who are elected by vote of the people who show up to vote on their host planet. They do not dictate laws, simply ensure the ones that exist and are agreed upon are enforced through their own means.

This was both good and bad for Mathew. Good because his profession made any contract or deal he created officiated by their power. That means if he and another make a deal, nobody could go back on their word within the outlined details. For example, if two people agree to exchange money for a product, and everything was outlined, it must happen. If one person does ont uphold their side of the deal, a punishment is dealt.

However, Earth did not have any laws governed by The Council. That meant any contract Mathew wrote is all there is to obey. Every line of text had to be pre-thought out. Every phrase required absolute specification. Every failure on either end of a deal must have a written repercussion or there is nothing stopping someone from upholding their end of the deal.

The Contract Mathew wrote out was barbaric. Normal legal documents were long for a reason. Years of people finding loopholes or vague paragraphs forced companies to be very specific or very simple with their wording. Either they meant EVERYTHING under a term, or they only cared about two or three specifics.

The one he wrote out was a modification of a prenup, an employee contract, and a NDA. Mathew’s idea with this contract was to essentially employ himself to Payne, but on equal footing. He wanted Payne to have zero reason to have the idea to harm Mathew. In fact, he wanted the opposite. He wanted Payne to be forced to protect him to a degree.

Leo looked up at Mathew, after he finished reading it over a couple times. “You realize this is insane right? Did you really just rewrite most of the prenups we have at the office? How did you even memorize most of this?”

“Leo, I have been doing this job for years, you haven't accidentally memorized a few paragraphs of the documents we read over every time?” Mathew only received a shrug in response. “Besides, it covers everything. He can’t do any harm to me at all. If he does, the contract ends and the prenup part should trigger.”

“What do you mean ‘should’?” Leo questioned.

“Well, you know. When someone breaks the contract, all involved parties receive a notification. We tested that. We also know, I can establish pre-designated punishments. Even the booklet has an example of such. So, I see no reason as to why it wouldn’t, but I can’t be too careful.”

Leo shook his head in disbelief. “What prevents him from locking you in a cage or something?”

“First off, I really doubt he would. Secondly, even if he does I would just break out then kick his ass. I’m Level 10, and can put him in his place easily.”

“And you break the contract for harming him I assume?” Leo pointed out.

Mathew nodded, “If he is going to lock me away, at that point I rather just take the loss.”

Leo looked down at the contract, “Right, and that’s when you lose 100,000 Universal Currency, and all your system approved possessions.”

“Correct, I had to offer up something that would let him agree to it. All he loses is ownership of the Hearth Crystal. Which, while he could take back, doing so proves he is wrong about the warning he gave out to everyone on the base. Which makes him a liar, and untrustworthy to the public eye.”

Leo had to admit that was clever. “And if he still tries?” Leo asked.

“Then I’ll figure it out then. I doubt he is suicidal, and wouldn’t push beyond a certain point. It will be fine Leo. I wrote this out for a reason. I even had Zack’s help for the magical portions. Apparently he dabbled in something he called Genie Rules. Which is to take a wish and try to use the wording to not grant the wish. The example he used was ‘I wish for a million bucks’. Then the genie would make a million bucks, the deer kind, appear.”

“Why go through all that trouble to specify things so specifically?”

Mathew grinned, “In case he locks me in a cage.”

“You are insane. You are selling yourself away!”

“No, I am ensuring my safety. This contract outlines things very simply. I work for him, and will create any contract he wants. He has to pay me as well, as I won’t work for free. I receive benefits such as a personal squad to protect me while I level up and train. Zack told me several people are getting skills and abilities up to the Beginner rank even before Level 10. That means I am falling behind, which I can’t allow.”

“Who will be this personal squad?” Leo asked.

“Whoever General Payne directly approves of. However, I am in charge of them. I would pretty much be the next Captain Henderson.”

“What will you do if one of those people shoots you?”

“Kill them back? Leo, I will be fine. I triple checked my work, and you checked it twice just now. If you really want, I can run it by Zack, Madison, my floating ball of magic, or even Captain Henderson and Brown if you want. Find me a Ouija Board and I’ll contact my now dead father if it will calm you down.”

“How do you plan to get out of the deal?”

Mathew raised an eyebrow. “Why would I?”

“Mathew, you hate being tied down by someone else. It’s why you started your own law firm using the few dollars your Dad lent you before you were banished.”

“General Payne is obviously not going to ever let me go. There is a time limit to my service, which is four years. Plenty of time for him to find a new Contract Scribe.”

“You are going to let yourself be stuck to him for four years? Mathew, you are essentially joining the military.”

“I am a proud American, willing to put my life down for the greater good.” Mathew said.

“No you are not. What the hell is going on here that you are not telling me?” Leo demanded.

Mathew pursed his lips. He looked down at his cup of tea then back at Leo. “Promise you won’t get mad?”

“No.” Leo crossed his arms.

“I plan on tricking General Payne, obtaining his Hearth Crystal, start making those numbers on my menu go up, and eventually rule the world.”

Leo blinked. “What?”

“It’s a simple plan. Zack is in on it.”

“WHAT?!”

“Well, he doesn’t know he is in on it, but his nerd group are really smart guys. They figured out Payne is at least Level 7. He has been sneaking out with his squad of elites to gain levels and-”

Leo started to shake. “The fuck are you talking about!”

“Let me backup two steps. I plan to take over this base, or at least the Hearth Crystal. How I plan to do that is a secret. Those things are the key to everything, other than Dungeons. Once Phase 2 ends, The System will be more or less hands off of the planet. The terms I read in the beginning gave us a time limit. Phase 1 is where the fun begins. Dungeons open up, and people will start dying left and right, while others will climb to power like crazy.”

“My goal is to be at the top of the food chain once the dust settles, Leo. We can get revenge and more for your sister. We can have a place where we won’t have to worry about crazy people attempting to kill us because he lost his truck to his now ex-wife. I can prove my family wrong, that I am a McGonalds, no matter what my mothers says.”

Leo shook his head. “Who planted this crazy idea in your head? That you can just be a higher level than anyone else and win this game. It’s not a game, it’s real life!”

Mathew took a sip of his tea. “Zack did, and it’s not a game, you are correct.”

“Then why-”

Mathew held up a hand to silence him. “It’s not a game, but it also is. The same games that were played before The System showed up. However this time I am going to play my way. Starting with me getting stronger, and making a deal with Major General Payne.”

“And you think I am going to let my friend do that? Risk his life on a gamble of power?”

“No, you are going to help me.”

Mathew would be lying if he said he was not worried. He checked his contract at least another ten times before walking to the building where Payne’s office was. He read it twice more while he waited even. However, he was at least 92% sure his plan would work.

The contract was full of legal filler to hide a few tricks he had. There were no real laws established on Earth by anyone, so nothing was enforced by The Council of Order. Thus any deal made was open to their own regulations and punishments.

Such as if Major Payne attempted to order Mathew to do anything as if he were a common soldier, the contract becomes void. Mathew had no wish to do guard duty, or worse things around this base.

If Payne orders someone to kill Mathew, the contract is voided. If Payne is a week behind the payment Mathew is owed, the contract is voided.

And above all, if Payne does something that is against the safety and wellbeing of Mathew, the contract is voided, and Mathew gets the amazing reward of being a Hearth Crystal owner.

However, Mathew had to spice it up enough for General Payne to sign it. Such as full access to Mathew’s stat sheet, abilities, skills, and spells. General Payne has a very long leash tied to Mathew while the Contract existed. If Mathew didn’t create a contract requested by Payne, then Mathew has to pay fines, or do physical labor.

There were pre-established amounts of papers he would need to supply weekly. Nothing insane, and if his [Writing] skill continues to improve, it would only get easier. Not doing so had a minor penalty versus losing all his money and possessions. That was only if he attacked Payne.

It was not something he could mess up, but more than likely won’t. Once it was signed, everything would be fine...he hoped.

A young man came up to Mathew. “Mr. McGonalds?”

“Just Mathew please.”

“Major General Payne is ready to see you.”

Mathew followed him to Payne’s office. He sat down and saw a somewhat familiar face sitting next to the General.

“Mathew! I can see you recognize my friend here, Judge Jerry.”

Jerry waved. “Hello Mathew, so good to see you.”

Mathew held himself back from sneering. Jerry was as crooked as they came to Judges. With family court, he always favored the richest or prettiest side. He had a few investigations and reports against him, but nothing stuck. There was also the rumor about him and a child a few years back that made Leo never want to work with him. Ever.

“Judge Jerry, I wouldn’t think I ever see you again after our last court date.”

“I’ve been hiding here on the base. The General and I go way back. His nephew and my sister are married, fun fact. Since then, I have helped him with legal matters. The General here says you have a deal for the two of you.”

Mathew nodded. “Oh, if Jerry is the one going over it, I might have worried for nothing.”

“May I see it?”

Mathew handed the folder to him. Jerry started to look it over. “Very detailed. Give me a moment please.”

Payne and Mathew looked into each other’s eyes. “Well, Mathew. I am glad you are accepting my offer. The task force you will be assigned to just returned this morning. Once they are debriefed on their results and we finish up here, you can go meet them.”

“What is the plan for the Dungeon?” Mathew asked.

“We will cross that bridge later. We have a couple more days till we worry about it. You won’t be going into it regardless.”

Mathew nodded. “To keep me safe, I understand.”

Payne stared at Mathew for a moment. “Why are you being so accepting of all this?”

Mathew let out a sigh of defeat. “Because, I want to get stronger, and as Zack and his friends say ‘make those numbers go *ding*’, but I want to do it safely and do it right. I am going to ask the team to let me do some solo fights. I am falling behind on my skills, which you will notice if you accept the contract.”

Mathew chose his words carefully. Ensuring Payne heard what he wanted to hear.

Payne raised an eyebrow and glanced at Judge Jerry. “Hold on, almost done here. Mathew, can you step outside while I talk to my client please? You should know how this works.”

“Of course, and I am open to making any changes if needed. Do you have the Contract Scribe profession Jerry?”

“No, I picked something else entirely, but I do have the [Reading] skill. We will call you in once we are ready to make changes.” Jerry said, as if already thinking of what to change in the contract.

Mathew stepped outside and waited. He decided to continue studying up on his information booklets while he did so. It had nothing to do with the fact he now wanted the [Reading] skill, not at all.

Inside the office, the two men looked at each other. “This is by far the weirdest contract I have ever seen.” Jerry said.

“What’s weird about it?” Major General Payned asked.

“Firstly, the fact that it reads more like an indentured servant than a typical employee contract. At least, from the few I ever read. He is basically selling himself to you. Granted, there are some steep consequences if you do anything to him he doesn't like. Yet the same goes for him. He essentially wrote down what one can say is ‘being a decent person’. You can’t even share the secrets of his menu that you get full viewership of by the way.”

“And the consequences?” Payne asked.

“Depends on which part is broken. At the least severe, you just pay a fine. At worst, Mathew gets full ownership of the Hearth Crystal.”

“What do I have to do to warrant that?”

“Essentially kill him it seems by the wording. He even went to describe what constitutes harm versus just accidental harm. He is overly specific, it’s weird.”

“Anything about it seems odd? Loopholes?”

“There are a few things we can change. For example, he mentioned something about serving him bad fish and making him sick as intentional harm. It was used as an example however, not a specification. So long as you don’t give him bad food, we should be fine.”

“He also put in a few things that are absurd. One is that you have to keep him safe and alive no matter what, so we will absolutely be changing that wording. Once we figure out a few meanings of these phrases it will become ironclad. He will work for you, you pay him, and so long as you don’t try to kill him, he is yours to boss around like any other business manager. Or...his husband?” Jerry said, squinting at a line of text.

“Husband? We are going to be married after this contract?”

Jerry shook his head. “No. Mathew used to deal in marriages.” He pointed at a section labeled ‘Waiver of Rights to Property and Titles’, “I think he made an honest mistake and copied that over from a prenup document.” Jerry was smiling. Mathew wasn’t so careful after all.

Payne shook his head, having a hard time believing he was still going to follow through with this. “Can he void the contract at any time? What if I want to?”

“If both of you agree, then yes. He put a four year time limit, which the contract automatically voids itself out. He can also buy himself out at the simple price of a million currency.”

“You think he has that much?” Payne asked worryingly.

“No I don’t. I went to the shop as well, granted I have what the nerds call an Orc as my shopkeeper. The things you can buy for that amount of Currency is insane. Fruits that can increase your stats? Unique spells. Items that allow you to fly, it’s insane. There is nobody here, maybe even on the planet, right now that can buy those things.”

“Good, note the changes and let’s sign this thing. I want Mathew pumping out contracts by the end of the week.”