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It was evening, Arath was preparing a grilled rat stuffed with fungi, and Noemi was awakened by the smell once again. She observed the man, how skillfully he skinned a rat, how quickly and finely he cut the mushrooms and herbs, how he perfected every aspect, removing unwanted flesh, adjusting temperature, mixing different ratios of ingredients.

If she didn't perceive cooking as tasks reserved for the farmer caste, she would compare it to shaman rituals.

To Noemi, kinslayers should be outcast and treated as such. That was a social paradigm, although not required by the codex. She still felt sort of lesser contempt for the killer, but she was not only curious but also realized that learning about the world she lives in is more important than ignorance and prejudice.

“Where did you learn to cook?” - Noemi asked.

“Troll's hut.”

“What is a troll?”

“It's a big, ugly creature from urban legends. It's as tall as a tree, lives in caves, hunts for human meat at night, and daylight turns it into a stone.”

Noemi would love to hear more about the tales of a foreigner, but she decided it would be better to stay on the topic. - “...so, why did you choose to learn cooking?”

“I didn't choose.”

“Then how did you become a cook.”

Arath was silent for a moment. - “Inn owner's forced me to learn. I was branded as his property.”

“Branded?”

“Yes.”

“These burn scars aren't a punishment for your cardinal sins?”

“No. They mark who did I belong to.”

Noemi couldn't believe what she was told. Humans reduced to objects. Words unwittingly left her mouth. - “You're nobody's property. You're a free person.”

Arath didn't answer for long, he had to cut a rat and stuff it with mushroom sauce.

“Temporarily.” - He answered.

“No. Always.”

Arath could spot true conviction in Noemi's eyes, but inside, he treated it as a delusion.

“What about your parents? They would've never agreed to this!” - Noemi added during the pause, exclaiming in a fit of rage.

“I didn't know my parents.”

Noemi calmed down and saddened. She understood the situation. - “I don't mean biological parents... anyone who raised you as their child and loved you.”

“Huh? Love? What does it mean?”

“It means... a deep affection.”

“Affection?”

“Liking.”

“Then, I had no such person.” - Arath knew that in Lynn, almost nobody had. - “I was sold to an orphanage.”

“Sold? By your own parents?”

“Probably by just a mother.” - His fate was like of everyone else, a random drunkard contracted a prostitute, who later used a baby to get easy money.

Noemi needed time to process her thoughts, the world around her was broken. What was her mission as a warrior, as a hero of the people?

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Noemi was served a stuffed rat, Arath didn't eat anything, so the girl assumed he had done it earlier. The meat was tender, juicy, and sweet. Grey sauce complemented it well, the boy really outdid himself.

Noemi started seriously reconsidering her bias against humans. The man in front of her had to be branded as an outcast, but Noemi couldn't imagine what a life without guidance and parents would be. She couldn't imagine why people would choose to be warriors in a world that could be called hell. In her village, each person benefited from each others work, why wouldn't it work for a branded outsider? She did not know, but it was not a taboo to co-operate with one. They both could benefit, but only as long as boundaries were established, but before that, she wanted to know one thing.

“Do you really don't care If you die?”

“I don't.”

“Then why do you keep struggling?”

“To survive.”

“Don't you contradict yourself?”

“No, I don't think so. It's like a game where your opponent never lost and the stake is your life. There's no point in trying, so you just accept your fate. I have no reason to play that game, but I do it anyway, always trying to stay in the game as long as possible. The focus isn't on fighting the game end, it's about the strategy you play.”

“Save me the metaphors. You low-key stated that you want to live as long as you can, so you do care.”

“No.” - Arath turned his sight away, even If he worded himself too poorly, If Noemi couldn't relate, understand or accept his stance or concepts, he lost interest in the conversation.

Noemi realized that she has pushed the wrong button, it was harder to read the Lynnian than she thought. She no longer wanted to step on the thin ice and changed the topic.

“I changed my mind. We can travel together, but there are conditions.”

“I agree to these conditions.”

“What!? Before hearing them.”

“I will do anything to survive and you're a better alternative than any of my past masters.”

“I don't want to be your master!”

“You wanted to brand me. That's a sign I become your property. I've agreed to that.”

“It's not what branding is for! Branding is to warn people that you've committed a cardinal sin! It's a penance to separate the wheat from the chaff.”

“Not in my culture.”

“We're doing things my way.” - Noemi declared with firm resolve.

“I've nothing against it, but that's what makes me a slave. This won't change.”

“No, we'll be... partners. We'll have a contract. The exchange will be equal. I'm a warrior, I fight and risk life and you're a farmer, you give an adequate tribute for protection.”

“The one being protected can't be equal to someone who risks life for him.”

“I never stated that, I said that exchange will be equal. I will not take lethal risks, pay has to be adequate.” - Noemi confidently explained.

“In Lynn, the partnership is reserved for equals. However you call it, I'll always be the slave.”

“No, because you have a choice and as long as you have no debt to pay, you can always leave.”

“I don't plan to.” - Arath didn't tell why, but Noemi could tell he was hiding some secret, but she didn't bother, because the boy was full of them.

“Then, once you take responsibility for your sins, we can be partners.”

“Where?”

“The neck.”

Arath pulled his shirt away, Noemi heated the tribal symbol on the blade of her knife, pressed it against the boy's skin, and left a mark. The man didn't even flinch.

“Now, that we're partners, I'll let you know that my name is Noemi.”

“Arath.”

“I will explain the conditions of a contract as we go. First, don't take any action without asking me first. I will teach you to atone for what you did.”

“Atone?”

“Yes, you will seek atonement. It means to make amends to gods for wrongdoings of your past...”

[ ––––––––– ֎ Day 28 ––––––––– ]

Noemi woke up early, about at 4 A.M. She ate well the last day, so she was in a good mood. The day started with a training of techniques covered in the labyrinthine manuscript. She devoted two hours to it, while Arath was still sleeping like a log.

The girl was becoming hungry, she crouched next to her new partner and examined his face.

'Human skin is weird, so squishy squashy.' - Noemi thought as she touched the man's cheek, to wake him up.

Arath opened eyes, looking a bit gloomy. He gave himself some time to regain full senses, then responded. - “Very early.”

“You must get used to it.”

“As you wish.”

“Today, I will teach you one of the codex laws.”

“I'm listening.”

“A warrior must receive a daily tribute in form of three small or medium meals and one full. The former is a morning meal, a meal hour before noon, and a supper. The latter is a mid-afternoon meal consisting of at least one light course and one course with meat.”

“As you wish.” - Arath moved to his belongings and unpacked rat's leftovers which were preserved over night in herbs, then prepared a hot pot.

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The two moved, at first they stopped at where Noemi fought Zahar and Delza, but it turned out that statement about that Zurno is just behind the corner was a lie. Arath didn't know anything of Zurno either, so the journey continued as it did. Arath walked behind, Noemi in front, clearing the path of rats, undead, various slimes, or quite agile and dangerous, giant lamprey-like worms.

Currently, the duo was in a long, straight tunnel infested with hostile ooze. Noemi borrowed the boy's pernach to make the extermination easier. It was an uneventful stroll, so Noemi started up a conversation to kill time.

“Were you on your own before?”

“Yes.”

“Me too.” - 'Mostly' – Noemi didn't want to mention a fox.

“I wonder, being so weak, how did you survive so long?”

“I avoid combat.”

“...but you're a labyrinth challenger, am I correct?”

“Yes.”

“....so you had to defeat a boss guardian.”

Arath silently nodded.

“What was it like?”

“It was a glob of gray flesh with dozens of human arms as its lower limbs and a large mouth filled to the brim with long and thin fangs.”

“ How did you defeat it!?” - Noemi was excited to hear about combat.

“I used poisoned flesh.”

“Just... that?”

“Yes.”

Noemi was disappointed. - “My opponent was a moving statue made of stone. Victory required bravery, skill, and quick judgment. Your strategy wouldn't work.” - If the man faced her opponent, what would be the result? To her, he basically cheated.

“I would find another one.”

“Not during the fight. You don't know what enemy you're going to face.”

“That's why I avoid combat.”

“What If you have to fight?”

“I always prepare before the encounter and strike unnoticed.”

“Is that what all your pockets are for? Weapons like the smoke before?”

“Correct observation”.

“I would like to see your combat techniques in action.”

“As you wish, when an occasion occurs.”

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There was a fin moving under the surface of sewage. The pair of adventurers hid in a recess because Noemi decided it's the perfect time for Arath to show what he is capable of.

“Are you sure it's going to work?” - Noemi asked, observing how Arnah inject a fried rat with poison.

“No idea.”

Twelve minutes passed during which underwater animal didn't even move an inch. The girl shuffled her left leg back and forth from boredom until a lone wave of sewage started moving towards the bait. Arath was crouching in front, observing.

“I want to see it.” - Noemi whispered and climbed with her knees on Arath's backpack, encumbering his with her weight. She had the curiosity and calm excitement like a child.

Arath didn't complain, since he wasn't personally touched, but he was visibly annoyed by the violation of personal space.

A long and thin, barbed chameleon-like tongue propelled out of the water and snatched a rat. Nothing happened for several more minutes.

“What?” - Noemi lowered her head, as If speaking to Arath's hair under her. - “Is that it? Is it dead?”

“It might be. Who knows.”

“What is your next move?”

“Nothing. I would choose another route. It's too dangerous.”

Noemi rolled her eyes and sighed. - “I'm going.” - She believed it was all extent of Arath's skills.

The girl moved closer to the water and started poking it with a spear, creating a sequence of ripples. The girl spotted a disturbance on the surface of the water and was attacked in under a split of a second. She parried the attack with unbelievable reflex, using the shaft of her pike, around which monster's tongue wrapped itself. The creature started pulling, so Noemi grabbed the spear with both hands, shifted to the optimal position, and locked her talons in the stone pavement. She tried to gain an advantage in a tug-of-war, but her opponent was still stronger. Deep scratches under Noemi's feet hinted at her imminent defeat.

“Mushroom boy, pull!”

“That would put me in danger. Am I allowed to try a different solution?”

“Whatever, just move.”

Arath pulled out a sac of herbal powder and tossed it under the lizard's feet. - “Use it on the tongue. Don't breathe it in.”

Noemi freed an arm and picked up an item, at the cost of losing a meter of distance to the edge. She applied a powder, then resumed her initial stance. The substance started working, the underwater beast started losing its pulling strength just before Noemi was at the edge of the canal. Bit by a bit, the girl removed the monster from the water, forcing it onto the stone bricks.

The beast had the shape of a manta ray and was three and a half meters tall. It had legs and claws on the ends of its fins. Its only eye was placed at the bridge and it had a vertical mouth on its underbelly. The beast was in poor condition, its gills secreted yellow substance and it wobbled on its feet, suggesting that both types of poison worked.

Noemi spun her spear, lunged onward, pierced all the way through the eye, and finished the enemy off.

“Whew, I'm hungry.” - She summarized.