Kapitel 40: The Lab
After the rather interesting meeting with the Elders, I was shown to my new home. It was a small 2 story house with a kitchen and bathroom on the first floor with a bedroom on the second. I decided to spend the rest of the 'day'? How does time work in the nether anyway? I assume that either the familia couldn't fix the portal or there might be some form of time dilation going on. I'll have to do some research to figure it out.
Moving past my thoughts about time, I spent the rest of the day in my new house just lazing around and relaxing for once but I swear I had the strangest dream. The only thing I remember was a strange pattern in the darkness, something within the chaos. I can sometimes catch a glimpse of a pattern… a very strange and disturbing pattern. Something stirs in the darkest and most chaotic corners of the universe and it gave me an Epiphany.
"What are we doing today, partner? Also, someone dropped some letters off at your front door." Taint spoke
"We are going to head to this Lab. I need to do some research. My body is aching to do some thaumaturgy, it has been far too long since the last time." I replied
I went downstairs, washed up, grabbed the letters at the foot of my door, and ate some breakfast while I read the letters. The first one was from Empress Rasi, and it stated that she would like it if I came by and exchanged some knowledge on alchemy. Attached to the letter was a small gold badge that would allow me to reach her private lab. The second was an eerily similar note to the first from High Priestess Teala that invited me to come and exchange my knowledge on artificing. Attached to the letter was an emerald badge that would allow me to reach her private lab. The last letter was functionally the same thing just from Arch Mage Dandle Dorf and attached was a quartz badge.
"Well now, aren't you popular." Taint mocked
"Shut up." I lazily replied
I left my house and headed down the road towards the large building that I could only assume was the Lab. On my way there I saw all sorts of races mingling with each other, and being the odd one out I did get some stares that I ended up ignoring.
The lab was a large building that looked rather plain from the outside simply being made from nether brick. The inside however was a different story, it was like a huge mall where each store was its own mini laboratory each containing an Infusion Crafter, and there were easily 30 that I could visibly see. It turns out that the creation of raw essentia wasn't done here, it was done in a separate building and people could buy essentia from one of the licensed vendors using the iron coins they used in Urbs Inferni.
The prices were 1 to 8 so a single coin could get you 8 units of essentia or a single phial's worth. The price did scale depending on the aspect you were buying
Tier 0 or Primal aspects were 1 coin to 8 essentia
Tier 1 was 2 coins to 8 essentia
Tier 2 were 4 coins to 8 essentia
Tier 3 were 6 coins to 8 essentia
Tier 4 were 8 coins to 4 essentia
Tier 5 were 10 coins to 4 essentia
Tier 6 were 12 coins to 4 essentia
Tier 7 were 14 coins to 4 essentia
An easy system to remember but I could imagine how expensive things could get if failures happen. There were also some exceptions like certain common aspects being cheaper even though they are of a higher tier or certain rare aspects being more expensive due to rarity.
There was also a greenhouse and at first, that baffled me but they were able to use alchemy to purify some of the soil in the nether and then create a huge cooled room so that plants would actually grow. The researchers seemed to hate getting Greenhouse duty due to how cold it was but I think it is just because they are adapted to the nether's natural heat. I mean HOLY SHIT they think 26C (78.8F) is freezing though in comparison 67C (152.6F) is their normal temperature so I guess 26C is cold.
I do know that I will be grabbing ALL of those greenhouse jobs because even if I can use the taint to prevent myself from dying of heatstroke It doesn't remove the constant sweating and god-awful heat. It isn't all bad though the white dress I was given is a much better thermal resistor than the Hoglin hide I was using before, some researchers did ask why I was wearing Ghast leather for clothing but I didn't have a response because I don't know what a Ghast is.
After I looked around I decided to go and talk with Rasi, Teala, and Dandle Dorf to answer some questions they might know the answer to. Upon making it to the section of the Lab that was relegated to the Blazes I showed the guards the badge and they walked me to her lab.
The Blazes looked rather interesting now that I got a closer look. They were tan-skinned humanoids with tattoos resembling veins running across their bodies with clothing tastes very similar to the Amazons from Orario. The main reason you wouldn't call them human is because of the fact that their limbs are separated from their bodies floating closely to them. They also generated quite a lot of heat so standing next to them was like standing next to a fire.
"Here you are ma'am." One of the guards said
I thanked them and entered Empress Rasi's personal Lab. I could see Rasi properly for the first time, something in the Elders meeting room prevented me from seeing them clearly. Maybe it was for dramatic effect?
Empress Rasi was quite the sight; she was easily 2.1 meters (6'11") tall. Much like the other blazes, her limbs were separate from her body but she had an extra set of arms. She had bright orange eyes with flowing blonde hair that looked like a blazing fire, or maybe it looked like that because it quite literally defied gravity. She had very smooth caramel-colored skin with some freckles dotting her face. An extremely well-toned body that I am sure the Amazons back in Orario would die for.
Rasi was wearing an orange crop top and very clearly just some panties, although I don't quite know how pants would work for a race that doesn't have legs directly connected to their body.
It looked like Rasi hadn't noticed my presence just yet so I decided to announce my presence with a cough.
"Oh, you spooked me. It's nice to see that you have come to talk. Why don't you take a seat and I'll finish up here." Empress Rasi said
I would've believed her but her expression did not change neither did her voice, weird.
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Word Count: 1197
Finally some new characters and places! Suggestions and power stones are always welcomed!
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
Apothoesis
Apothoesis Hopefully, this character description is ok, I couldn't quite find art that properly displayed how I wanted Rasi to look. Another question is: am I setting up romance for the future? Maybe? Never written anything like it before but if it does happen it'll probably take a while.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein