<Snipped quote by Path>

No matter how much they may enjoy it, or how good of a life they live, if they're not allowed to leave, they're nothing more than prisoners.

<Snipped quote by Nimda>

What makes you believe they don’t have the ability to leave?

<Snipped quote by Path>

I didn't say they couldn't. But we can't.

<Snipped quote by Nimda>

You were though, you were utilizing a loophole to prevent what you see as a lack of freedom. Sleeping it away. It seems you are the cunning one as you are attempting to take advantage of the not so specific rules of our contract.

<Snipped quote by Path>

As cunning as a rat chewing away at the grates of the sewer it's become trapped in.

<Snipped quote by Nimda>

*smiles*
You see yourself as the rat, but instead you are the sewer that it’s trapped in. In fact, I am that rat. Just like this maze, you have been given the freedom to complete it or not. You fought the maze and attempted to burn it down, only to give up thinking that nothing else can be done. You have no time limit to complete it, nor is there any danger that awaits you. It’s just a simple labyrinth. And I know you haven’t exhausted all of your options as well. Not thinking in the right direction.

<Snipped quote by Path>

I have other tricks. But I have a feeling they'll bring me to the same spot as all the last ones did. And I have the same feeling you won't let me get away with sleeping off our contract.

<Snipped quote by Nimda>

Yet you never tried them, so how do you know? You utilize tricks and cunning to get your way, but it is consuming. After a few, you absolved that nothing will work or change because what you have done didn’t and that is what the world is going to do.
*brushes my hand on the hedge as we continue walking*
Of course I don’t want you to do such a thing, especially after I saved your life and had hopes that you’d be trustworthy to hold your end with at least a little appreciation. And besides sleeping the timer away, there are many other ways to deceive me and hurt me. I am unable to defend myself from you in that way either. You could kill me! End my life! But as the contract states, I cannot harm you.

<Snipped quote by Path>

You clearly have enough magical ability to defend yourself from attacks or escape. The root of the problem is that we didn’t make this contract with you so you’d rescue us. We made it with you so you wouldn’t kill us after we ran out of strength to fight. Am I in your debt because you chose not to take my life?

<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

Anything good?

<Snipped quote by Server>

There's some stuff. Not sure how much it is compared to what you all could find, but I was really hoping for... More.

<Snipped quote by GalaxyRaider>

You want to help me grab the other half of this key, and we can see if it gets us the rest of the way?

<Snipped quote by Server>

Yeah, let's do it. You having trouble?

<Snipped quote by Nimda>

No. You are not in my debt. I would have healed you regardless if you accepted the deal or not, in which you trusted your companion to make that decision as well. If you are as cynical and cautious as you make yourself, you would not have let that happen.

<Snipped quote by Path>

The deal was to guarantee that we wouldn’t die at your hands. If the tundra itself was a death sentence to us, then yes, we’d be in your debt.

<Snipped quote by Nimda>

The guarantee was a measure made by your friend during the two years. Not as a prerequisite. You were going to die and Lily did not want that to happen.

<Snipped quote by Path>

Anyone bleeding approached by a random mage in the tundra would think they were going to die.

<Snipped quote by Nimda>

Or saved. It’s all about how you see the world and your baseline trust especially in times of crisis. Not everything is a battle for survival.
*moves my hands*
In your experience you see it as danger, but it is flawed and skewed as that is not how everyone will see a random mage in the tundra. Like this maze, you fight it and try to break it, to no avail I will note. As your experience has brought you to these conflicts and solutions. But not all situations are the same.
*points up*
The sun whilst in the labyrinth is a trick, not set by me, but by the labyrinth itself. I catch myself falling for it at times. It will teleport back to the entrance. Which is why I warned you about it.

<Snipped quote by Path>

Whether we had to sign the contract or not, we had no way to know whether you were being honest, Lily did the right thing by making certain you wouldn’t kill us, and now I have a set of obligations to fill.