[ ––––––––– ֎ Day 25 ––––––––– ]

Noemi was disgusted, she wanted to go back, but the hatch behind her was closed shut. Although she was amazed by the unfamiliar architecture and a whole underground network of tunnels, the stench was horrible. She was in a sewer.

The walls were made out of stone bricks covered in thick, mucous, brown sludge. Sometimes, patches of yellow moss grew on them. Rivers of waste were flowing between two sidewalks which were occasionally connected by bridges, so Noemi had no problems moving.

Dim corridors were illuminated at ceiling's corners by glass tubes filled with odd, bioluminescent yellow liquid.

In rare cases, it was possible to find a variety of fungi growing under or on the walls, like enoki, buttons, white mushrooms, or very common polypores.

Noemi wandered around getting a grasp of a stone maze, but she quickly got lost and ended up in a blind alley. However, her ears picked up a gurgling sound from behind a wall, so she stopped to listen. Her instinct told her that there should be a way to get to the other side, hopefully not a roundabout one, she just couldn't see it.

Noemi put her lantern on the floor and started to examine the wall, there were chinks like in the stone pavement earlier, so there was a chance that the wall retracted. She wondered If she would be able to cause it somehow.

[ ––––––––– Ϫ ––––––––– ]

Noemi overheard a noise coming from behind a corner where she left her lantern, someone was running in her direction at quite a high speed. She picked up a spear and prepared. A human boy jumped out, holding some sort of round, ceramic object in his hand. He tossed it behind him, object shattered spilling some sort of fluid on the floor. The boy slid on the floor, then snatched Noemi's ignited lantern and tossed it at the liquid, which instantly caught fire and created a wall of flames, but the girl's item was lost forever. The stranger landed right under Noemi's feet. A lot of mushrooms spilled out of his pockets.

Noemi inspected what commotion was about and realized that the person was being chased by a horde of rats, creatures unknown to her. She recognized his smell, he smelled different than items of a hunter at the top of the tower, and the same as the two people who assaulted her at the forest. She wanted nothing to do with people anymore, especially of his kind, but she couldn't condone stealing.

The girl aimed at the boy's neck with a tip of her spear, waiting for him to turn his face. She looked at his attire. He had cargo pants made of brown leather, a dirty green shirt, and a brown leather jacket. He also had a huge backpack and an item belt ran through his chest, filled with vials of various substances. Boy's jacket and pants had a multitude of pockets, all seemingly kept some items. He also had a belt on his waist and attached there were three satchels, a stiletto, a black pernach with ancient insignia, and a silk rope.

The boy finally turned to Noemi, there was nothing in his expression or in the eyes. It was like he lacked any emotions. Strange lizard girl didn't bother him at all, even If he had never seen it in his life. The human had unkempt and greasy black hair of medium length and dark green eyes.

Seeing no reaction, Noemi decided to reach the man's waist and unbuckle silk rope. The pristine, white item didn't fit the dirty thief who still didn't bother about the situation, and she really its gilded embellishments.

"It'll cover a loss." - Noemi impassively replied and tossed him her old rope.

Noemi moved the spear away and allowed the boy to stand up, while she herself returned to examining bricks in search of the passage.

The boy didn't bother and moved closer to reptilian, but she ignored him. He inspected a wall from the bottom to top and replied.

"I suggest we temporarily join forces." - He spoke out of sudden.

"Not interested."

"Why?"

"You're not a warrior. It does not benefit me to babysit a person, who will be dead the next day."

"Then, wouldn't it be more rational to kill me on the spot, when you could, and take all my belongings?"

The boy was dead serious, but Noemi thought the opposite and smirked mockingly, revealing pair of her fangs, then laughed lightly. - "You mean this, mushroom boy?" - She pointed at spilled fungi with her spear.

"No. I mean the contents of my backpack, and of the belts."

Noemi was stupefied. The boy took her question literally, instead of getting the teasing joke. There definitely was something uncanny about him, but she couldn't tell what. Nobody ever acted like him in her village, not in any aspect, so she just decided to ignore him.

The boy also kept staring still at the wall as he did before, without further replying. He pulled out his pernach, which strangely started vibrating, more and more as he moved it closer to the wall. At last, the boy kicked a button hidden under repulsing, slimy moss and a section of a tunnel retracted, revealing a junction to a deeper region of the labyrinth. He moved inside, paying no attention to the reptilian.

In the middle of the corridor, there was a single putrefied human corpse, wearing nothing but rugs, but the boy ignored it. He moved to the opposite section of the passage, where a new river of sewage flowed.

To Noemi's surprise, the corpse sluggishly raised up and began walking towards the unaware boy.

“Hey!” - Noemi decided not to interfere, but still shouted to the boy, because he was oblivious to the danger. It was obvious that his senses were dull when compared to the woman.

The boy turned and overheard a gurgling 'Graaagh!', but to Noemi's surprise, instead of attacking the undead, the mushroom boy began speaking to it.

“Hello?”

The female warrior was amazed by the absurdity of the situation. - “It's no longer alive. Just kill it.” - She crossed her arms and spoke in a calm tone.

“You make no sense. If it can be killed, it has to be alive.”

Noemi's jaw dropped. Apparently, the boy not only took everything literally but also didn't know what undead is.

“Just... defend yourself.” - She couldn't believe what is happening.

The boy prepared a stiletto, then punctured the skin near the undead's carotid artery three times. A brown, semi-liquid fluid squirted out with each thrust, but injuries yielded no effect. Adventurer tried to push the creature away, but he was nearly pinned down by the zombie's hand, so the task became impossible. The boy was driven straight to the edge of the pavement and was about to fall into sewage.

Noemi didn't think twice and decided it was time to act. She grabbed the undead and hurled it into a canal. The boy was standing there without uttering a single word, staring dumbly at the girl.

“Don't follow me.” - Noemi replied and left.

[ ––––––––– ֎ Day 26 ––––––––– ]

Noemi squeezed the water out of spongy polypore mushrooms. It tasted like mud, but she had to bear with it since she didn't find any other source of hydration.

The girl looked far in the depths of tunnels. They were infested by gray slimes. She fought one earlier to test it out, but piercing weapons didn't affect the foe. She had to step on it, but that left her feet covered in stinking, sticky goo.

Farther away, feasting on slimes, were giant yellow slugs. They've climbed the walls and ceilings, at the same time covering them in glue-like secretion. If Noemi were to step into it, she would be stuck for hours.

Due to these reasons, dissatisfied, Noemi had to backtrack. Not for the first time. She was pretty much fed up with the whole underground location and would do anything to leave the place.

The girl moved to an unexplored passage in form of a staircase that led to a tunnel just under the sewer canal. As she walked, she encountered large, two-meter tall beasts that were bipedal salamander hybrids with crocodile skin.

Creatures were very territorial and wouldn't allow the girl to cross, so she had no choice but to defeat them. She fought valiantly and three of foes collapsed one after one in front of her.

As the girl was about to finish off the last creature, she realized that she's being observed by two people. Noemi was exhausted from combat, but to reduce the chance of being attacked, she wanted to warn strangers that she's still a threat, so she undercut the lizard's legs, gracefully switched stance, and pierced the beast's heart, just to show off.

“No need to hide, I can see you.” - Noemi called.

Two lurkers moved from behind a corner and revealed themselves. One was a hooded woman in a ragged dress, with drooping eyelids and brown skin with a slight yellowish tone. She had weary sight like she subconsciously begged for death to grant her mercy and end her misery. The second person was a broad-shouldered male in chain armor, an ax was attached to his belt.

“Good day, stranger.” – The male spoke in a rough, but diplomatic manner. – “I am Zahar and this is my wife, Delza.” – He extended an arm to his left as If to introduce a woman with the gesture.

“Hmpf.” – Noemi crossed her arms, she could sense their smell. They were of the same origin as the boy earlier, but contrary to him, they had the courtesy to at least make basic greetings and tell their name. She still had aversion to people, but she couldn't refuse to follow the code of her village and was obliged to respond in the same manner. – “Greetings. I am Noemi, the exalted warrior of On'tharian swamps.”

“It's an honor to meet you, Noemi.” – Zahar bowed a little. – “We applaud your proficiency with a spear.”

“I acknowledge your compliments. State your business.”

“To the point. How honest...” – Zahar straightened his neck. – “You see, my wife is very ill and I was thinking, perhaps a warrior as strong as you would like to accompany us? We're heading to the nearest city, Zurno.”

Noemi desired to refuse and to be alone. She had no trust in the good will of people in the labyrinth, especially not the ones with that smell, but according to the warrior code, she wasn't permitted to ignore a sick person in need.

She also had many questions. - “Zurno, city? What are you talking about?”

“It's a settlement not far away from here.”

“Settlement? Do you live there? I thought you're labyrinth challengers.”

“Yes, we are but we've met a...” – The man paused here. Noemi could tell that there was something suspicious and calculative in his voice. – “...guide who had told us the way.”

Noemi squinted her eyes. – “A guide? Why is he not with you?”

“He's dead.” – The male boldly answered. At this point, the woman that accompanied him averted her gaze.

“My condolences. I'm ready to help you, but by the warrior code, you will be obliged to pay a tribute after the task is complete.”

“We will be happy to pay.” – The man smiled, but Noemi couldn't trust this smile.