"Is everything okay with you? "

I could sense Zojja's hand grabbing onto my shoulder, while I tried to gather my thoughts. My mind had gone a bit dizzy through the teleporting; the feeling reminding me of the fast accelerating from a roller coaster. Except that it went straight upwards instead.

"Yes... yes, I'm fine. I would say that it was just... a bit strange."

"Don't tell me I didn't warn you", Zojja said with a grin.

As my condition slowly returned back to normal, I looked around. We were in the Arcane Council, a fact that I already knew.

It was a sort of circular room, which was surrounded by golems on every side. Peacemaker golems, I assumed. In the midst of the room stood - or better floated - seven seats made of stone that I thought didn't look comfortable at all. It wasn't surprising to see that no one was sitting on a single one of them. All of the Asura that were present in this room were standing together in small groups near the chairs. If not that, then they seemed to be absorbed in some kind of document. Until now, no one had seemed to recognize our arrival.

Above the middle ring, was a floating hexagonal object which had a bright light emitting from its center. I assumed its purpose was to illuminate the Council, but I wasn't entirely certain.

Zojja stepped forward into the council, and I followed her like a dog to their master. I was nervous, because I had no clue what she was planning. I knew she wouldn't just tell the council my true story; otherwise they would put me straight inside an asuran madhouse. But if she lied too much, they wouldn't believe her either.

"Zojja…" I whispered. "What exactly have you planned for us? Do we have a plan at all?"

"Szallejh. I am simply THE genius! I would hardly drag you along to the Arcane Council if there was no such thing as a plan, now would I?"

"Let's hope for that. What exactly are you going to tell them then?"

"That's simple. We..."

At that moment we were spotted by one of the council members, who approached us with arms wide open. "Aaah, Golemancer Zojja! What a pleasure to see you!"

The Asura was surprisingly ugly. His skin was of a light-grey mottled-looking color, its tone indicating a lack of healthy regime. Its texture was wizened with cracks and canyons stretched across his face. His loose-hanging ears were ripped on their edges, and the eyes looked cold and somehow even evil.

I definitely didn't like this guy.

"Council Member Phlunt! The pleasure is all mine", Zojja purred with a voice sweet as sugar, but everyone could hear that her words were not meant to be honest at all. And it was obvious she wanted Phlunt to hear that too. I intended to ask her later what had once happened between those two.

Phlunt turned to me and raised his eyebrows. "And who is... this?"

"This is my niece, Szallejh. She grew up outside Rata Sum, but more exactly, out in the Shiverpeaks with someone I know very well. But because she couldn't stand the snow anymore, she came to visit us in the jungle instead. And so, we are here now because Szallejh would like to receive citizenship within Rata Sum - to live and work here."

Hmm. Okay, That seems to sound credible. At least I hope so.

"Weeeell, Szallejh", Phlunt began.

I absolutely didn't like the way he pronounced my name. But at least no one had thrown me out of the Arcane Council room, which meant there was still hope left. It also meant Zojja had clearly thought about her plan quite efficiently.

He continued. "What are your strengths so far? Which college do you belong to? Statics, Dynamics, or Synergetics?"

I struggled on his question. I didn't know anything about one of these three colleges. I just readied myself to babble some kind of stupid answer, but then another Asura approached us.

"My ears, Zojja! Professor Canni just informed me that you have requested an audience in the Arcane Council."

Zojjas face brightened again a bit more. "My dear, that's High Councilor Flax, the leader of the Arcane Council. He will hear our case soon and decide over your fate."

Same as Phlunt, it was evident that Flax had already seen many years. His skin was darker in color, but it looked far more healthier compared to the specimen that was Phlunt. A full head of brown hair adorned the top of his head. On his forehead, was a blue powerstone which I assumed could be used to take over at least one or even all of the surrounding Peacemaker golems.

Zojja motioned an arm towards me. "High Councilor Flax, this is my niece Szallejh. We're here today because of her."

"Well then, let's start with the audience!" Flax clapped his hands once, and almost immediately a few other Asura of both genders came together and took seats on the uncomfortably looking chairs.

Zojja and I were instructed to take place in the middle, so we could stand with our faces towards Flax.

And with our backs towards Phlunt, which I don't like at all.

"You better leave the talking to me", Zojja whispered to me, just before High Councilor Flax rose from his seat to speak.

"Excelsior! Esteemed members of the Arcane Council, welcome with me the well-known Golemancer Zojja and her niece Szallejh", Flax began, a choir of murmured 'excelsior's' around the room. "Well then Zojja, you have the right to claim your request."

Zojja spun the same confident tale, though it was woven with far more details this time around. She illustrated me as an uneducated Asura, the made-up fact reasoned from how I had grown up with the Norn and therefore didn't have the opportunity of a higher education.

It was all so persuasive-sounding, and I would have believed her had I not been a key-piece to this plan of hers.

"And now you're pleading the citizenship of Rata Sum", Flax stated. It was more a fact than a question, but I nodded approvingly.

High Councilor Flax rose from his seat again and threw a short glance around the circle. "The Arcane Council will have to sit upon this case. We will inform you when we'll have come to a final conclusion."

Zojja thanked the members and led me to the edge of the room, so we couldn't hear them and they wouldn't be able to hear us.

I stared at Zojja in disbelief. "When did you have time to make up such a detailed story for me!?"

Zojja giggled like a little girl. "I am a genius, did you forget about that?"

I didn't know how to answer and just lifted an eyebrow. "What if they don't believe us?"

"They will, for sure. Councilor Flax trusts me. It's another thing with Phlunt entirely, but there are still the other council members. I have a quite good relation with most of them, so they will also believe me. Though my sister won't be happy to hear that I just attached a child to her."

"So you do have a sister?"

"In fact, I do. And I wasn't lying when I said she lives in the Shiverpeaks. At least she did until a few years ago as I think she is stationed in the Sparkfly Fen now. Admittedly, she would never be the one to raise her child between those drunk Norn! But no one here knows about that, right?"

"Zojja, you are an absolute genius. I owe you so much for that."

She stopped me with the wave of her hand. "Well, I think it will be enough if you just visit Narru in due-time and inform her that her beloved sister has attached a child to her!"

It was refreshing to see how much fun Zojja seemed to have by enjoying her made-up story to the fullest. Nevertheless, some very loud bells began to ring inside my head as I heard the name.

Sparkfly Fen...

"Wait a second, Zojja! Narru is your sister? Warmaster Narru!?" I asked.

A mischievous grin was the only answer. Zojja was just about to say something when a young looking Asura with two dark stiff braids stepped towards us. She was fully clothed in brown and orange colors, and appeared to look quite friendly.

She spoke directly to Zojja. "The council has come to a decision. High Councilor Flax requests you to step back to the circle to receive the judgment."

Zojja bowed slightly. "I thank you, Councilor Zudo. Let's go."

We started moving, but quickly fell behind Zudo a few steps. I stared at Zojja, still in disbelief about the sister conversation and whispered. "But you two have no similarities at all!"

Shrugging, she answered. "Wherever you know Narru from. Only because she has some hair upon her head and I have not, you don't have to judge that hard."

I laughed so loudly over her comment that Zudo turned around, her face looking a bit startled as to what had caused the sudden laughter. Zojja elbowed me hard in ribs, indicating me to cease my fit of giggles. But the quick glance she shot over definitely confirmed that she found our little conversation just as funny as I did.

I had met Narru many times in-game before, as she was the one leading the fight against Tequatl the Sunless. I had always admired her character, and I was becoming incredibly excited about meeting her in a more personal and up-close sort of manner.

But Narru as Zojjas sister... And if they believe Zojja's spun tale, then that also means she'll be my mother!

While trying to avoid another round of laughter, a strange squeak left my mouth. Luckily, it seemed no one had noticed it.

Hey, so I guess Zojja is my aunt now! How fast the time can go.

The council had already taken their appointed seats and Zudo led us towards the middle so we were facing Flax once again. Phlunt stared at us with his evil-looking eyes, and this time I felt even more uneasy knowing he was at my back and out of sight. It was a bad feeling and it seemed as though I could feel it deep within my bones. The image of his cold claws reaching for my neck to strangle me in a deceitful manner.

"Golemancer Zojja and her niece, Szallejh", Flax began, rising from his seat made of stone while nodding to us both in acknowledgement. "The council has come to a decision."

An unpleasant silence spread throughout the room. Zojja stood there without any movement, and I wasn't able to read any emotion displayed on her face. I questioned how she was able to remain so calm, since I was clearly the opposite. More than anything I wanted to grab her hand for comfort, as my heart was pounding erratically fast inside of my chest.

There was so much at stake depending on this decision!

"As you know, we all are great believers in both you and your work. You have always been a good apprentice to Snaff, and have honored his remembrance more than anybody else. This evidence is furthered along by The Snaff Price you invented. You have made the lives of Asura that much easier with your plentiful inventions. Even now, you are on the verge of facing more Elder Dragons after the recent defeat of Zhaitan.

He continued with a respectful nod. "The council would be honored to get in touch with one of your family members, and we would happily accede to your request."

It couldn't have worked better! Those spoken words eased my heart, and I saw that even Zojja exhaled with relief.

That was until I heard Phlunt clearing his throat behind me. I swore to myself that I was able to feel his nasty breath on my skin.

High Councilor Flax scratched behind his ear in a nervous gesture.

My heart, which had been light as a feather just a few heartbeats ago, had now taken a nose-dive to the ground. Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no!

"But Councilor Phlunt has made his reservations. He wants to err on the side of caution, because currently there are enough contretemps with Inquest spies. He wishes to bring about another audience, which would include you and your sister."

My small bubble of hope burst into thousands of tiny pieces. They didn't believe us.

Or at least The Council believed us, but not Phlunt. And unfortunately he had been able to convince the others not to fully trust Zojja and myself.

I looked over at Zojja to see her reaction to all of this. It was evident that her whole body was under immense tension, but that was the only physical cue she showed. Her inner tempestuousness and rage against The Council remained unseen.

With caution I threw a quick glance over my shoulder, my eyes catching how Phlunt was looking at the both of us with the most dirty insidious grin I had ever seen.

Shifting my gaze elsewhere, I peered down at the stony floor beneath my feet. I didn't want to show my disappointment and indignation to the people around us. My hands were shaking, and all the blood was rushing to my head.

How could someone ever possibly trust this story? What should I do now?

I had been thinking about a possible 'Plan B', when I heard Flax's calming voice again and I lifted my head.

"Therefore, we decided to grant your niece a temporary permit of residence inside the city of Rata Sum. At least until all of the formalities with you and your sister are done", Flax began.

"Szallejh is to enjoy the privileges of a citizen within our city until the last day of Phoenix in the year 1326 NE concludes. Until then, we should be able to solve every open question concerning her citizenship. We'll warrant her an accommodation in the sleeping dorms of the College of Synergetics, as this is the college of choice by her aunt. By accepting the permit of residence, she is obliged to appear in the Arcane Council whenever the notion is requested. And as long as she is no full-fledged member of Rata Sum, Zojja will vouch for everything Szallejh does."

There was still a chance for me!

I didn't know much about the asuran time reckoning, but I figured it would be enough time for me to reconsider my plans. It wasn't exactly what we were hoping for, but at least it was a start.

Zojja and I grinned to each other for our small win, and she squeezed my shoulder for a short but incredibly precious moment.

"Here is your temporary badge", Flax motioned, handing me an oval-shaped item that glimmered in gold and was similar to a police badge. It was fairly plain, with just a few numbers and a button in the middle that was likely to reveal more details through a hologram.

He continued. "You'll need that to get through all of the Asura-portals and be able to identify yourself whenever needed. Try not to lose it."

I nodded thankfully.

High Councilor Flax adjourned the meeting and formally dismissed us. Zojja took a quick bow, and I tried to do the same. Then Professor Canni led us back towards the teleporter, where she made her farewells far less formal. She gave a long hug to Zojja before bidding goodbye.

Once we were back to just the two of us again, I couldn't help myself and I enfolded Zojja into my arms. She was surprised at first with the sudden action, but she didn't try to push me off.

"Thanks", I murmured into her armor. "Thank you so much... Aunty."

"Hey, nothing to thank me for. But I wouldn't be too happy if I were you considering you were portrayed as the dumb Asura raised by Norn", Zojja replied with a grin. She waved to the Asura next to us who was responsible for the teleporter controls.

"But what if they talk to Narru about this before we can reach her?" I asked. The doubts had been growing in my head after Flax had spoken about the urgency to clarify this issue with Narru herself. I was sure that Phlunt would use every little chance to get in our way.

Zojja merely shrugged. "They won't. There are very few Asura who know that Narru is my sister. We don't have the best... relationship, if you understand what I'm saying."

"And why are you so sure then that she will play this game with us?"

"She is my sister, after all. And I'm not forgetting that she still owes me a really big favor! So don't let it trouble you too much. This issue will be long resolved before the Arcane Council even knows who my sister is."

"Well then. Another question... High Councilor Flax said that I would have time until the end of Phoenix. How... how long is that?"

Zojja appeared confused for a short moment, but then she seemed to have remembered that I didn't originate from Tyria. Therefore I had no clue how the local calendar worked, let alone knew what day it actually was.

"Ah, well you see. Today is the 36. day of the Phoenix, and that means that you have 55 days left to get citizenship of Rata Sum."

Nearly two months... That should be enough to at least build the foundations.

Furthermore, Flax had mentioned the year of 1326 and the fight against the Elder Dragon Zhaitan. Which meant that the events in Tyria overlapped broadly with the events in-game. The Pact had just formed its big alliance to kill the first Elder Dragon.

I was just at the beginning of it all.

And you know about certain things which you should definitely keep as a secret. If the events here really happen as they do in the game, then you are bound to meet people whose fates are already sealed because of the fight against the dragons...

I didn't like this thought at all. But maybe there were a few things happening otherwise here... Maybe it would be possible to save at least a few lives...

"Well, well! Look who has a Norn living in his capital city now", Phlunt's cynical-sounding voice came from behind me. It made me wince enough that I nearly dropped the new badge I had received. To be on the safe side, I put the thing inside one of my pockets.

"Obviously no Norn, but an Asura", I answered as calmly as possible, trying not to show how much this man sickened me.

"Obviously an Asura with a Norn's brain instead. What else could be expected from an Asura who has lived with those drunkards most of her life?" he retorted with a sneer. "You haven't even graduated from one of the colleges! I suppose you wouldn't even know how a proper monolithic integrated circuit works. You have no business of being here, Skritt-brain."

Wasn't I a Norn-brain just seconds ago?

"You have lost, Phlunt. We got everything we wanted today", Zojja now intervened. "And at least Szallejh knows how not to evoke hostility in the whole world within the blink of an eye. You should learn a thing or two from her."

"Pah, as if I would care. I will get you soon, Zojja. And your dense niece too. You will see us again, that I promise", Phlunt concluded, turned back around to disappear into one of the side doors without saying another word.

Canni, who had watched the whole scene from afar, just shook her head in disbelief and shrugged her shoulders.

Zojja laughed out bitterly and said, with her hands in her hips. "Congratulations, my dear. You've just got phlunted!"

"Hmpf. And it sounds as awkward as it feels", I replied.

An extremely tall Asura joined us and exchanged a few words with Zojja. He activated some buttons for the teleporter, causing a bar on the display to fill itself with a green color while building up an energy field around us.

Zojja threw a questioning look towards me, whereupon I just nodded in affirmation and readied myself to get teleported back down to the city center.

Midday had just passed when we re-emerged on the main platform of Rata Sum. The sky was still shining in its brightest color of blue, and the jungle air had reached its highest peak of temperature. I wasn't quite sure that I would ever get used to this heat, but that played into my hands well enough with the credibility about my fabricated Shiverpeak childhood.

"And what do we do now?" I asked to Zojja.

"Well, I suggest we will need to split up for this next step. I will go talk to the dorm leader of the College of Synergetics and provide you a residence for the next few weeks", she explained. "In the meantime, you should work on getting yourself an ample supply of clothes and whatever else you'll also need for living."

She looked me up and down while screwing up her nose, almost as though she wanted to say that my clothes were not the most tidy and well-scented anymore. "How much gold do you have?"

I fumbled around in my moneybag and showed the contents to Zojja. She inhaled in surprise and stared at the coins with big eyes. "My ears! Where in the Eternal Alchemy did you get so much gold?"

Shrugging, I just murmured, "Seems like someone wanted me to have a good start."

I looked at my nearly overflowing backpack with a skeptic brow. "How will I be able to carry all the things that I buy though? Just the clothes alone are going to fill up space, if there's even any room left!"

Zojja only needed a few seconds to think about this conundrum. "You have more than enough money to afford an upgrade for your bag", she explained while grabbing my arm and leading me towards a merchant that sold not only weapons and armor pieces, but also a vast assortment of runes. "Just give me one gold coin."

"But that's so much!?"

"It won't hurt you. And if we're going to be upgrading your backpack, then we'll do it the right way, won't we?"

I remained silent and gave my backpack to Zojja. While she was discussing the details with the merchant and keeping an eye on his work, I looked around at the nearby scene of the market. Next to the merchant was a booth that sold clothes and shoes with a big mirror at the front of the shop.

The perfect opportunity for me to have a real look at myself.

The person that awaited me on the reflective surface appeared familiar, but it was also a complete stranger looking back.

The gray spots on my skin weren't just located on my arms, but they were spread out across my face as well. My lips were full, and behind them were two rows of neat and very sharp-looking teeth whenever I smiled. The almond shaped eyes above were an intense green color, and they reminded me of the nearby jungle foliage.

My red hair was in a bit of a chaotic knot, but that was something that could be remedied well-enough with a good comb.

And my ears, they were absolutely tremendous! They hung down at shoulder-length, and when concentrated, I found that I was able to let the tips wiggle to and fro.

All in all, what I saw was quite passable!

I had turned around a few times to examine myself in front of the mirror when Zojja suddenly appeared behind me and cleared her throat. "Your backpack", she announced, passing the brown bag to me. With a curious glance I looked inside, immediately noticing that the space inside had increased tenfold.

Okay, I love magic. Absolutely!

"Hey, it is bigger on the inside!" I said, giggling because of the suggestion that no one else in Tyria would ever understand. At least now it would be big enough to store a few proper clothes and shoes.

I wonder if the weight will still be that light with all the stuff in it?

I strapped my rucksack on and discussed with Zojja that we would meet right here again, once we had both finished our tasks. After that, I decided I would need to arrange some time for myself to take a proper shower before I could start looking for a job. It wouldn't be until the next day when Zojja wanted me to travel with her to Sparkfly Fen, the location where we would talk with her sister.

"All right then, Szallejh. Take care of yourself and don't let the merchants squeeze too much money out of you!" Zojja waved goodbye. She disappeared on one of the ramps that led to the inside of the cube.

I took a deep breath.

First things first, I needed some clothes. Conveniently enough, the perfect booth was already right beside me.

For a while, I spent the time digging through the most diverse offerings until deciding on a few of them. I picked up some elaborately decorated black, brown and grey colored pants as well as a handful of colorful shirts that could be tied up around the neckline. Much like the pants, the shirts were beautifully crafted and were laced at the sleeves. To this, I added two vests that were both in a neutral blue-grey color and had some bags attached to their sides.

Besides the pair of shoes I was already currently wearing, I had only bought one more pair but I picked one that also covered the toes. You never knew when you would need something like that.

Atop everything else already picked out, I also added some underwear along with bands and clips for my hair.

My purchasing craze had created a few frowns scattered here and there, but I didn't really care. After all, I knew I needed all of this and besides, no one should try to get in my way as long as I was able to pay for it.

I paid the necessary coins for my items, amazed that even after all the amount I had paid for, it was still cheaper than one single gold coin. I stuffed all my new purchases except the hair bands and clips into my small backpack, which seemed to absorb everything like some kind of black hole. To my relief, the backpack hadn't seemed to change in weight when I shouldered it back on.

Did I mention before that I loved magic?

Once again, I placed myself in front of the nearby mirror and unraveled the knot that had been keeping my hair up. Its red strands cascading down, the length reaching down to my hips. I hear an Asura whistling behind me, which actually made me smile.

With the help of the bands, I bundled together the greater part of my hair into a long braid. I skipped two of the smaller strands on each side of my head, and instead attached them with one clip each. This way my hairstyle looked far better than the previously strange knot, as the thing had been on the brink to unloosen itself anyway.

I walked about the market place for a while, buying some peanuts that weren't indispensable, but I still wanted to own them. The sun was already low when I decided to finish my shopping and return to the weapon merchant where we were supposed to meet.

Zojja was already there, and was making conversation with a group of Asura who were wearing the symbol of the College of Synergetics. Most likely they were students asking Zojja for a device of something.

She closed the conversation when she saw me approach, and the Asura disappeared into the nearby crowd while still discussing their issue.

"So, did you get everything you needed?" she asked.

"I think so. And if not, I figured the market place isn't that hard place to find so I can come back whenever I want. How did you do?"

"I was able to negotiate a little. You'll get your room; the only thing I have to do is just give a few symposia concerning the ramifications of bloodstone magic to its environment. It could be worse, if you ask me."

"Zojja, you're a genius!"

"That's what I already said, didn't I?"

Our conversation continued along that way for a bit, while Zojja led me down some ramps. Though there was no daylight here, the gleaming energy fields everywhere that were fed by arcane energy lighting our way.

While we descended lower and lower, it appeared the hustle down here was still able to keep up with the one just above on the surface. The difference down here though, was that rather than noisy merchants yelling about their wares, there were various lab workers. In nearly every direction you could hear the sound of screaming, swearing, clanking and rattling.

Students either sat or stood around in small groups, and they conferred with each other about ongoing tests. On every corner, you could hear asura giving the most diverse-sounding lectures. Golems buzzed around the passageways, delivering packages or urgent messages from lab to lab. Children ran around our feet, playing tag or trying to fool the Peacemaker golems.

"It's certainly lively down here," I said, mentioning towards the shocking level of sound down here.

"Get used to it, it doesn't look or sound much better at night", Zojja explained. "You'll hear that racket even inside your room. It's the reason why you're only seeing laboratories around and not living spaces. Nobody would want to live inside this chaos, except for the students that don't have enough coin for a proper flat or want a shorter route to their college of choice."

"Well, that sounds promising."

There was one last ramp that led down, and it seemed now that we had finally reached the lowermost level of the city. From what I could see at least, there didn't seem to be any more ramps leading down. Even the light from the energy fields seemed to have dimmed a bit with the depth.

We stopped in front of a big stony gate and were greeted by the gatekeeper. They appeared to be quite a good looking Asura, even with the scaringly tattered ears.

"Excelsior!" they greeted. "I suppose you must be Zojja's niece?"

I nodded.

"My name is Klakk. I'm responsible for the dorms of the College of Synergetics. Follow me", he said with a nod of his head.

He continued. "You are lucky, as one of the newly refurbished rooms just became available. Another Asura that graduated early within just thirteen years...", he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "These progenies nowadays..."

"Saved by the bell", Zojja whispered. "Many students propel supreme dubious experiments in their rooms, which is why some of them had to get refurbished not too long ago. You could have just as well landed in one of these acid-corroded, chaos monster infested rooms."

Klakk led us to a door located fairly close to the gate and indicated for me to step inside. The door hadn't been locked; which hopefully meant there was a misplaced key somewhere awaiting a new owner.

The room was about exactly as I had expected. It was windowless, with energy fields above my head that filled the space with the steady buzzing sound of the ventilation system. For asuran standards, it contained everything substantial: a floating fair-sized hammock, a bedside cabinet, a wardrobe and a desk.

"You'll find the cleansing rooms at the end of the hallway on the left, and the cooking premises on the right. Please try not to leave too much work for our cleansing golems.", he said with finality, thrusting a key into my hand. He said his goodbyes and left.

"A real student digs, eh?" I joked.

Zojja laughed. "It will do for the start. Wait a while, maybe you'll get hired by a krewe someday and earn enough money to buy your own apartment. At least you'll be spared the common rooms then."

"I suppose I've got bigger problems right now than a common shower", I laughed. I threw my rucksack onto the hammock, pleased to see the bedding was already equipped with pillows and blankets because I hadn't been thinking about those items while shopping.

I pulled some of the other contents out of the bag, grabbing the clothes I wanted to wear after taking a shower. The rest of the outfits were neatly arranged inside the wardrobe, which unfortunately was just as big on the inside as it looked on the outside.

"Very well... you received your temporary permit of residence, a room, and something acceptable to put on. Now refresh yourself and keep your ears open for someone who maybe has got some work for you", Zojja explained.

"And what about you?" I asked.

"I have other things to do, but don't worry. I will catch up with you right here tomorrow morning. And then we'll be off to give my sister the pleasure of a surprise visit! But before that, I have to ensure that those blockheads don't try and blow up my laboratory again."

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose at a recent memory. "You'd think they could manage on their own when you leave for just half a day..."

With the bundle of fresh, new clothes under my arms, I made headway to the cleansing rooms. I was unsure of what awaited me there, but the excitement to finally get clean far outweighed the worry. On my way there I encountered many Asura of different ages, most of them seeming to be younger than me, though few hardly paid me any mind.

The hallway was quite long and I counted around fifty doors on each side, which occasionally led into smaller corridors leading elsewhere.

I wonder how many students will live here?

At the end of the corridor, the path parted left and right; I chose the left one. Once through, I had the choice between choosing three doors: One door with the wave symbol which I had previously identified as a toilet symbol back at the tavern in Soren Draa. Another door had a cloud symbol, and the last one was etched with a symbol of water drops. The latter choice seemed the most promising for me, and since I couldn't make out symbols for gender segregation, I opened the door.

A hot cloud of steam greeted me and disguised my view for a moment, the whole room seeming to gleam in an unnatural blue color. Against the wall stood several tubes that were faintly reminiscent of shower cabins. Some of them stood open, and I could make out the silhouettes of Asura in the others.

Suddenly one of the cabin doors opened, and a completely naked Asura stepped out. He didn't seem too concern with the fact that everyone could currently see every centimeter of his body. As cool as a cucumber, he went to a pile of clothes that were lying out upon a bench beside the wall.

I forced myself not to stare too blatantly, and likewise searched for an open place on the bench. Once I was far away as possible from the male Asura, I put the new clothes down and began to undress myself.

In the corner of my eye I saw another female Asura that threw a bundle of cloth into a small cabinet, which started to buzz and then showed a countdown on its display. I suppose it was some kind of washing machine, an utility which was exactly what I needed right now.

I felt kind of uncomfortable running around in this room completely naked even while others could look at me. But no one else seemed to be offended. Apparently Asura had no such distinctive sense of shame like humans did.

I threw my old clothes into one of the cabinets beside me and pressed the green buttons. Immediately, the machine was recalled to life and green letters counted down from 100.

Though I didn't wait for it to be done, I turned to one of the placards on the wall which read: "Rules for using the PeDACUR - cleansing capsules." Underneath the text, it explained short and simple directions of how to start the Personal Decontamination And Cleansing Utility Room cleansing process. It stated that neither acid, nor some kind of waste was to be used inside the PeDACUR.

I really had no intention of destroying something, as I just wanted to feel clean again.

Carefully, I stepped inside a free capsule and the door automatically closed with a hiss. All around me was white milky-looking glass, so I couldn't look outside. The flooring surface was rough to avoid the danger of slipping. Although the capsule was not wet or rudimentally dampish, it made me wonder.

Shrugging the thought away, I activated the button that I assumed would start the process, and immediately I was doused by a stream of warm water. I was amazed that the water had just the right temperature for me: not too cold and not too hot. With relish, I straightened myself up under the stream, kneaded my hair a bit and sighed with relief.

This was exactly what I needed right now.

The water was glowing in the unnatural blue coloration that I had recognized from the washing bowl back in the tavern. I decided I would need to confront Zojja the next day and ask her what exactly this stuff was. But it didn't seem to be bad, if anything.

Way too fast, the stream suddenly stopped and a buzz filled the cabin. That was the second step: Decontamination and cleansing via low-leveled arcane energy. This removed whatever remnants of dirt lingered behind after the stream, and at the same time it also dried my skin and the surrounding cabin. My body felt warm to the core, even though the energy wasn't enough to completely dry my hair.

Eventually the buzzing noise faded away and the door opened with a faint hissing sound.

Feeling incredibly happy, I stepped out of the cabin and ran my fingers through my still damp hair before grabbing one of the towels that was placed upon one of the nearby shelves. I used it to dry the last locations that the PeDACUR hadn't reached.

Once I was content I threw the towel into one dedicated baskets, or at least I supposed that was its purpose as it already had some used towels inside. Then I slipped into my new clothes which luckily hadn't stolen by someone in the meantime. I did my hair just as I had done before and opened the cabinet that had been holding my old clothes, the counter above having reached zero on the display. The previously dirtied clothes were now clean, dry and held a sweet aroma to their fibers.

And that was all within just a few minutes.

Asura and their techniques... it continues to surprise me again and again.

I folded the old clothes neatly so they would not crumple again, and headed back to my room. There, I emptied out the last things that had been in my backpack and decided to arrange the room to look more personal for the next few days. It was rather bleak and spineless at the moment.

After locking my room and heading out to walk through Rata Sum some more, I realized I couldn't even remember the last time I had ever been this happy. The sun had completely disappeared, but the inside of the city's cube was still ablaze with light. Some of the labs were dark and closed by now, but most of them appeared to have late working Asura on the nightshift schedule.

Because of the late time, it meant most of the taverns and bars were now open, and many Asura swarmed to those places this evening.

While I passed the various signs, I memorized the taverns that seemed most appealing as I wanted to ask someone at those locations if they could use a helping hand.

And when I woke up the next morning, it meant that I would have a permit of residence, a room and - hopefully - a job.