I opened the thick scroll I'd been handed, and blinked slowly. "Miss Riviera... these aren't Chores. These are Bounties, Contracts, and Requests for Rare Items." I said slowly.

She held out a hand. "If you think you're not up to the task, I can take it back, and ask someone else to assist me-"

I pulled it away from her. "I can do it... but I'll need some time..."

"How much time?" She asked critically.

I read over the list again, and nodded. "Two weeks, absolute tops."

Her eyebrow crept upwards. "Alright. If you don't finish this list within two weeks, I will never teach you else about Magic. Deal?"

I cleared my throat. "How about... I will do my utmost best to complete these missions, and your threat is very clear, and understood, but let's not be hasty? A deal is a thing, and one with ramifications such as these should be carefully considered." I chuckled nervously.

She smiled. "My threat stands. If your work doesn't impress me, I'll never teach you again. Get busy."

I nodded and darted out, looking for Bete, and finding him in his room, lifting weights. "Uhm, Bete, I know we aren't good enough friends to ask favors, but Riviera just gave me this list, and says that if I don't finish it all in two weeks, she'll never teach me magic, so I'd really like your help understanding some of it." I spat out in one go.

He blinked, then set down his weights. "That Elf... always doing weird Training... give me that." He snatched the list, and read it swiftly. "No way you finish this alone. No way in all nine hells. Some of these ingredients are only found in the lower floors, and others are a ways from here, travel wise... you'll have to barter for them, instead."

"Okay... makes sense. The requests aren't time-crucial, which means they don't have to be from the source. Okay... but what about the money? I only have a bit-"

"Go into the Dungeon, and find as many low-level monsters as you can, just like yesterday. Rack up money in quantity, not quality. Then come back here, and I'll have found out where to get these herbs... but you'll owe me a favor, and a big one." He sat back down, and scribbled down some notes from the list, tossing it back to me.

I rolled it up and nodded. "It'll be worth it! I'll be back!!!"

I grinned and sprinted out, heading to Apollo's Inn, and barging in on Johnny. "Ooooi! Wake up, we've got serious problems that need fixing!" I barked at his prone form.

He groaned and stood, stretching. "Well, good, I need a workout. My wound is feeling just fine, so don't worry about it, eh?"

I wrote down all the smaller jobs that didn't involve going into the Dungeon, and handed him the new list. "I need you to do everything on this list, ASAP, I am not kidding in the slightest, no matter how stupid the job seems, okay?"

He blinked and started reading. "Okay, I can... these seem..."

"Yeah, well, I've got the harder ones, it's a really long list." I grumbled, then tossed him a long katana, that matched his long arms perfectly. "I bought that for you, just in case anyone gives you shit."

He caught it, and grinned savagely. "Much appreciated..."

"Alright, we're on a clock, here, so I've got to go, alright? You good?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'll get it done, don't you worry about li'l ol' me..." he chuckled, and started getting dressed.

I nodded and sprinted out, heading towards the Dungeon.

---

"22,000? How about 24, look at how fresh it is!?!" I bartered with a merchant for a rare herb I'd gotten from within the Dungeon, one that wasn't on the List.

The merchant shook his head. "22 is as high as I will go!" He said sternly.

I sighed. "Alright... well, the place across the street-"

"Do not mention to me my competitors! I am not so easily manipulated!" He growled.

"I was only going to say that they were much less wise than you, after all, they didn't take my deal at all, they didn't even know the value of this Herb! Clearly your shop is Superior..." I smiled charmingly.

He grunted. "You are very tricky, little elf. I won't be tricked! What do you want?"

"I need the 'Snow-Glass-Emperor' Herb." I said simply.

He hummed. "Ahhh, that's why you butter me up. You want a good price... okay, I give you small discount, because you are smart, and new, and I want you to come back. I say to you, 200,000 Val." He said flat out.

I grinned and set a bag of thick coins on the table. "Deal, sir. If I could get it now?" I asked.

He grumbled, but nodded, and set a jar on the table, with a pure-white plant inside, and wet dirt for it to survive. "Anything else?" He asked.

"Yes, do you have... Daisy Lion, Frog Root, Snake Flower, Sun Rose, Dream Root, and Night Rose?" I listed all the Herbs I needed to complete that section of the list.

He blinked slowly, and sighed. "All but Night Rose, I have, yes. Another 200,000 for these."

I grinned, and nodded, setting the money on the table next to the other bag. "Done Deal. And can you tell me where to get the Herb Night Rose?"

He hummed, scratching his chin, and went to his shelves, setting herbs in boxes, and labeling them clearly. "I know a few places, but the easiest, relatively, would be the Dungeon. It grows at the entrance to the Ninth floor, in the Mist. And it's very poisonous."

I nodded. "Okay. Well, thank you for the information, sir, and the Merchandise."

I placed everything neatly inside a bag, and then left quickly, before he counted the money, and realized I had shorted him by about 10,000 Val. My confidence when I'd placed the money down should have given him pause, so hopefully he didn't count it for a little while.

I heard him start swearing, and booked it back to the tower, laughing giddily.

I turned a corner, and nearly plowed into Riviera, Loki, and that blonde girl who had yet to deign to speak to me.

I skidded to a halt, and chuckled nervously. "Hey, ladies, how are you?" I edged around them slowly, and froze when the blonde placed a sword under my chin, moving so fast I didn't even get a hint before she was glaring at me, and her sword was poking my larynx.

Loki gripped her hand. "Now Ais, is that any way to treat a member of your Familia? He's not doing anything Shady, and he's a friend of ours... he just doesn't want us to know what's in that Suspiciously-like-a-gift-bag! That's not a crime!"

She lowered the sword, and frowned. "Sorry." She said simply, and sheathed the sword.

Riviera hummed. "What is in the bag?"

"Herbs, for the list? I bought them just now. I can't reach the floors of the Dungeon they grow on, so buying them fresh was a second option..." I stepped away from the blonde warily.

She nodded. "I see. Good, you're thinking quickly. You only have a week left, I hope you're almost done, after your boasting..."

I grinned. "Almost, ma'am!"

Her face froze. "You're seriously almost done?"

"When I say I'll get something done, it gets done." I shrugged. "Good morning, miss Loki!! I have to run!!" I sprinted off, entering the tower and taking the stairs six at a time, hopping like a goat.

I reached the top, and darted over to the smallest line, just as a new wave of people entered, and the line behind me grew exponentially.

---

Thirty minutes of foot-tapping later, I set my bag on the counter. "I'd like to call in some contracts?" I set the scroll on the counter.

The short man behind the counter raised an eyebrow. "You've been here a lot lately. You in a rush for cash?"

"No, no, nothing like that. I was told by the top member in my new Familia that she'd teach me magic if I finished all these tasks in two weeks, and I'm one week in. If I fail, she never teaches me again, so..." I gestured at the boxes.

He nodded and started looking through them, opening them to check the contents, and then checking off pieces of the list at a time.

Contracts started magically disappearing in spades over on the Contract board, and I grinned as the board halved by the time he was done.

He tallied everything, and whistled gently. "Alright... this amount of money-"

"Is it possible to wire it to a specific account? I don't want to try to carry it." I asked.

He nodded. "Name?"

"Xavier Dorian. The account belongs to Riviera Ljos Alfa, my... Senpai, basically" I grinned.

He nodded, smiling a little. "She might kill you for saying that, but I get it... and you're set! I'll have it in her account in-" he set the paper on a ledge next to a hole in the wall, and that same set of small hands dragged it in. "-about ten minutes! The list only has twenty items left, so I'll shrink it down, if you like-"

"No, I'd like it to stay as is. More impressive that way. Just move all the unfinished ones to the top, please." I grinned.

He chuckled. "True enough... there." He handed it back. "Have a good day."

"Thanks, you too." I nodded, and jogged out, heading towards my quarters at the Castle.

---

"Oi, Johnny! You done with your stuff?" I asked him, walking in without knocking.

I froze, viewing the situation. Johnny was on his back, and the blonde from before had her sword trained on his throat. I blinked once, then growled. "BLONDIE! WHAT THE IS YOUR ?!?" I barked at her, slightly pissed off.

She stepped off of him slowly, keeping her sword pointed at him. "He isn't a member of our Familia... I thought he was an Intruder."

"You're in , Blondie. Who's where?" I retorted.

She sheathed her sword. "I apologize... I was coming to tell you that Loki wishes to speak to you."

I nodded. "Okay... thanks, I guess. And meet Jonathan Gyllenhaal, my oldest friend, and the man who's entering this Familia in a few hours, most likely."

She glanced at him, and nodded. "Hello. I apologize if I harmed you."

He sat up slowly, grinning. "Believe it or not? I've actually had worse first impressions with people. No hard feelings, miss."

She nodded and walked out, swiftly disappearing down the hallway.

I tsk'ed and held out a hand to help him up. "You alright?"

He shrugged, dusting himself off. "I'm fine, she just knocked me for a loop. She's strong, huh?"

"She's a Lvl 6, so... yeah. Definitely strong. One of the top in this Familia." I nodded.

He grinned. "Cool. And yes, I finished all my tasks." He held up a sack of money, and then a sack of different items that had been lost or stolen, and he'd had to find.

I nodded and took them. "I'll be back, and I'll put the money in your account, you earned it."

I ran out, back to the Tower, to finish all but three of my contracts.

---

The man blinked at me slowly. "Back again?"

I set the list and two bags on the table. "Yep. More contracts to fill, and a deposit to make, into the account of one 'Jonathon Gyllenhaal'. I owed him a favor, so I figure the money is a good enough payment."

He dumped out the bag of things slowly, and whistled gently. "Wow... you've been seriously busy."

"Johnny and I worked together on these contracts. He's an old dog, but he knows some good tricks." I shrugged.

He started checking off pieces of the list, sighing, and I grinned when the entire wall of contracts, (save five, only three of which were mine,) was empty.

He tallied it all, then took the bag of money, and counted it, and sighed again. "And to think you're only a level one... alright, I'll transfer the money... do you want to know how much it is?"

"No, it isn't my money. I'm good. What's left on the list?" I asked.

"Uhhh, Night Rose, War Shadow Claws, eek, and... Rowan wood, which shouldn't be hard at all- ohhh, Dungeon Rowan, okay. Dungeon Rowan is a tree that grows in the Misty floors. It eats people, by the way." He warned me.

I nodded. "Sounds good. Thanks for this." I rolled the List, and jogged out again, back to the Castle.