[ ––––––––– ֎ Day 30 ––––––––– ]

Noemi woke up early in the morning, three hours before Arath would start his work. A day earlier, she asked If the boy would assist her in reading the notice board. Arath consented, treating it as a contracted duty. After the two ate a small breakfast, they traveled to the town's square.

Noemi inspected the crummy booths at edges of a plaza, some of which were already open. She reached to her bags, there were twenty bronze coins in her hand, one-sixth of what Arath had earned so far. She could've afforded at most two standard meals for that, but meals were Arath's duty, so she managed to save it up.

The girl approached the first opened stand. It was selling baked goods of various with various fillings. The choice was wide, it was either small snacks with fungi (2 bc), white larvae (2 bc), rat meat sliced in cubes (3 bc) minced leeches (4 bc), a mix of boiled vegetables (5 bc), or larger dishes with salamander meat (12 bc) or fillet of a cyclopean stalker (18 bc). The fillings could also be purchased separately, per kilogram.

Noemi got herself and Arnah two larvae buns, they had a decent salty flavor.

She then moved to a stall with clothes. The display of prices changed slightly, but Arath could understand them after receiving his first payment. The prices were partially in silver coins and one silver piece equaled fifty bronze pieces. Most of the clothes were plain and their cost ranged from 1sc 30bc to 3sc. Decorated garments were three to five times more expensive, the prices of a few pieces of aristocratic quality, most of which were reward from the dungeon, were ranging from 24sc to a golden coin. The golden coin was worth one hundred silver pieces and was slightly different from bronze and silver, since it was flatter but had a larger radius, had an engraved image of vines, and had a hole of one-third its diameter, which allowed it to be carried on a neck by use of twine.

In Zurno, carrying a gold coin was an important sign of higher social standing and could positively influence the attitude of common citizens, law enforcers, guild representatives, or tradesmen, but at the same time, it attracted thieves.

Noemi checked a few more stalls, with various trinkets, furniture, herbal medicines, cheap jewelry, liquors, and office items. She decided to spend eight bronze coins in the last shop to refill her paper supplies.

At last, the girl moved to booths with equipment. At the standard stand, there were mostly weapons, where on average, things like a good sword would cost you sixty silver pieces. Resources were scarce, so a full set of protective plates with a cuirass would cost eight gold coins and a full plate armor had an exorbitant price of forty gold coins and wasn't even put on a display. Only sketches of the item and description of characteristics were provided.

Noemi checked all the sketches and noticed there were two items listed as legendary tiers, a crimson ring with flower-shaped rose quartz, and a huge jar of swamp water. Both were listed at the price of three hundred and fifty gold coins. Their respective owners were Roosters and Serpent Sorority.

Arath could comprehend that to join Silver Sinners, it would take months of saving, but at least Noemi wasn't determined to do so, at least not yet.

At last, the two reached the notice board and looked at the quests for Noemi. As promised, Augmi's note was there with a reserved spot for Noemi, but the time of a campaign was set to the end of next week, so the girl had more than ten days to prepare.

Well-paid tasks required a certified rank in one of the guilds, so Arath had to search the bottom of the board to find anything suiting Noemi.

“Rat Hunt.” - He read. - “By Crumbled Grotto. One to four bronze pieces per rat, based on the size.”

Noemi was a bit bitter. - “You know it's not a task for me! I'm a warrior. I won't hunt small prey.”

“By Roosters. Gray slime infestation. Two hours a day, twenty-eight bronze coins.”

Slightly irritated, Noemi started tapping her foot. - “Next.”

Arath knew what would happen If he kept reading the basic tasks, so he didn't bother. The issue was, there was close to no task for somebody outside of any guild, due to the fact that dangerous missions were directly outsourced to the city office that determined the difficulty of an errand.

“Urgent! By Treelings. A gap in the dam. Clear the nest of black-blood worms... eight silver coins.”

“That's a task for me! Tell me the direction.”

“They recommend at least four people though.” - Arath noted. - “It's a large infestation.”

“Don't you doubt me, mushroom boy!” - Noemi grinned confidently and asked Arath so sign the task with her name, to mark it as taken.

[ ––––––––– ֎ ––––––––– ]

Noemi arrived at the upper-left region of a town. The city was wider here since the pipe that formed the town was collapsed at that section and crossed a spacious cavern. There were a few lone houses standing amidst lines of terrace farms. Noemi asked local porcupine-kin farmers to show her the way to the broken irrigation dam.

The girl arrived at the door of a large, but simple wooden mansion and knocked. Two beavers opened.

“Greetings!” - Noemi kept the upbeat attitude and a bright smile.

“Good morning.” - Owners of the dam were slightly surprised since it was a very early hour.

“I'm here to deal with your problem.”

Beaver couple looked behind Noemi, spotting nobody there. - “Just you?”

“Uh-oh!” - Noemi nodded energetically.

“You must be mistaken, it's a large nest in wet areas, not just an invasion on crops.” - The beaver wanted to turn its back, close the door and leave, but Noemi stopped him.

“I'm aware of that!” - She declared. - “I've dealt with enlarged worms before, just point the direction.”

Beaver unwillingly pointed to the dam. He was skeptical. - “What guild had sent you?”

“None, but I'm the strongest hero in my village. Consider your job done!” - Noemi said before she departed and waved with the back of her hand to say bye.

[ ––––––––– ֎ ––––––––– ]

As Noemi walked towards the dam, she spotted a single black-blood worm. It was almost the same type of worm that she encountered whilst traveling with Arath, except it appeared a bit smaller.

Noemi took one of her javelins out and threw it at the target. The sharp spear pierced the worm's mouth and black fluid oozed out of the wound.

“One.” - Noemi counted.

She traveled farther and in a similar fashion, killed three more worms sleeping under a wooden aqueduct.

“Easy.” - She spoke while recovering her javelins. She was excited and her mood was high.

Noemi was slowly arriving at the nest, her five javelins were no longer enough to deal with all the worms without risking close combat to retrieve them. Worms turned out to be as hard opponents as their larger counterparts back in the sewer, they were agile and easily dodged most of Noemi's attacks, but the girl managed to handle two of them at once.

It was not until Noemi arrived at the nest under a leaking dam, that she understood the severity of the situation. There were close to fifty beasts in her sight and who knew how many were hiding in the puddles and pool of leaked water.

Noemi, however, wouldn't give up. She tossed her javelin, killing the first worm, and immediately after that, all foes began moving in her direction. The girl killed four of opponents at the most troublesome positions, to give her more time during combat, and equipped her spear.

[ ––––––––– ֎ ––––––––– ]

Noemi was fighting bravely and lost a track of slain opponents, she could swear that they wouldn't stop coming from the reservoir. The bottom of her body and arms were mostly stained by black liquid. She was getting tired and her movements got slower, but she kept fighting, despite of slowly becoming surrounded.

Perhaps an hour has passed, perhaps way more. Noemi was at the limit of her endurance, literally dripping with sweat, but with every moment, she believed to be closer to victory. It was just that there was no end to worms.

Five foes surrounded Noemi, but she stabbed the first and swiftly turned around and swirled her spear to slice the second. As a consequence, a large wound opened, splattering the girl with black liquid. She was caught off guard and momentarily lost her vision, what allowed the third worm to bite into Noemi's arm. A sharp pain immediately alerted the warrior and she stuck the tip of her spear into the opponent's throat. Worm fell on the ground, but Noemi started bleeding.

Despite that, she wouldn't give in to defeat, even when odds were against her, and continued to fight in that state until she heard a voice from behind.

“Need a little help?” - It was an older rat, accompanied by a bald, dark-skinned human girl in a stained, washy orange outfit and by another rat with an oversized right arm. The beaver task giver was with them, apparently worried about the fate of the girl.

“No, thanks.” - Reptilian responded.

“Do you really expect to handle it all, alone?” - Elder rat asked.

“I do.”

“We are always ready to join, just say a word.”

“It's my prey! I'm not sharing the reward.” - Noemi answered in a strong voice.

“That changes a lot.” - Elder rat uttered to himself in a low voice and told his party that they may sit.

Minutes passed and Noemi's relentless fight turned into a sluggish game of dodging and counterstriking. She already skipped a meal and wouldn't be able to finish before the dinner with her actual tempo. Her hunger left its mark on her stamina and focus.

Dozens of slain enemies piled under Noemi's feet, the soil was soaked in their blood and quite wet, so it was not long before the girl slipped. One of the worms sensed an advantage and jumped on the girl, knocking her back on the ground. Before Noemi could react, a mouth full of sharp teeth propelled towards her. She instinctively blocked with the shaft of her spear, but the monster bit through it, breaking the weapon in two.

As yellow, slimy saliva was dripping on Noemi's face, she shifted her arms from the broken spear to grab the enemy by the neck and force it away. When the head of a monster was a bit higher, a wooden bolt pierced through it, saving the girl.

Noemi stood up, turned her head around, and shouted. - “No!” - She was stubborn to a fault.

She didn't pick what was left of her spear, instead, she grabbed the next worm by the torso and pierced its upper body with her sharp, black nails. She was standing still, gasping for air, but six more worms were approaching. Noemi was anxious, she couldn't possibly deal with them by herself.

More bolts swirled through the air, incapacitating the incoming clew of worms.

Noemi dropped to the ground and sat in a puddle of blood, then began cheerfully laughing. - “Okay. I give up!”