I noticed that Aldus started checking two books while simultaneously writing down something and I knew that he might take a while.

It seemed that I was stuck with Krob. If I understood correctly, Krob is Aldus's servant, so there is a big chance that I will see him more in the future. Well, at least I should make an effort to be friendly. ​​

"Will you show me the lab?", I asked Krob.

Krob didn't move, so I decided to see if he will react to compliments. "Aldus said that you are doing a great job with the lab."

Krob's cracked lips moved into an almost-smile. "Yes. I make sure everything is ready for Master."

"I'm confident that you saw many interesting things here."

Krob raised his chin a bit. "You have no idea."

"Can you tell me about it?", I urged him.

"I can't tell you about what Master does, but I can show you around because Master approved it." Krob moved toward the shelf with jars and I followed after him. As much as Krob creeped me out, I was curious about this lab.

"These are various specimens that Master collected.", Krob said.

One by one, I observed jars of various sizes. They had different colored liquids inside. One had a scaly talon that was the size of my head, the next one had worm-like creatures that moved in irregular patterns, another jar was with liquid only and it changed color from yellow to orange and then back to yellow again. Fascinating.

I stopped at one jar that contained a big brown-ish ball that floated in a murky liquid. I leaned closer to see tiny hairs that were arranged in one curved line when suddenly the ball moved, and I found myself staring at a fist-sized eye that returned my stare.

"It's alive!", I said under my breath and I forgot to close my mouth.

Krob cackled, amused by my reaction.

"Most of the things here are alive. Don't touch things randomly."

I was unable to stop staring at the eye in the jar. "What is that?"

"It's an eye of a cyclops. It's very hard to obtain one in such a pristine condition."

"A cyclops? I assume they are not giving their eyes willingly.", I mumbled while trying to imagine the size of a cyclops if the eye is so big.

"No one will part with his eyes willingly. There are creature hunters who specialize in obtaining things and selling them to the highest bidder."

I heard about creature hunters from Aldus and I assumed that they are killing non-humans out of fear or hatred toward them. I didn't consider the possibility that they are doing it for profit. It reminded me of the illegal organ trade.

"If hunters are selling these, there must be a market where you can buy such items. Right?"

Krob confirmed. "There are markets, but items like cyclops's eye are sold on special auctions that only selected ones can attend.", Krob said proudly while gesturing toward Aldus.

I thought that Krob boasting about Aldus's status was silly and I wondered how did the two of them meet.

"How did you end up with Aldus?"

"I lost my way and my purpose, and I started giving in to nothingness. I barely held onto my consciousness when Aldus found me. He offered me a purpose and here I am."

"That was a very vague explanation.", I said with displeasure obvious in my voice.

Krob's completely black eyes focused on me. "For someone who does not know about the difference between a zombie and a ghoul, or what a cyclops's eye is, or that there is a market… telling you more would be a waste of my words."

I was offended by his condescending tone, but I could not deny that he spoke the truth. I had no idea that the thing in the jar is cyclops's eye, and I had no idea what things in the other containers are either. Everything was unknown. I was clueless, but I refused to let it stay that way.

"Listen, Krob, I spent a lot of time among humans and I must admit that I don't know much. Why don't you teach me? If Aldus kept you by his side, you must be a smart ghoul." I started with truth and ended with a bit of buttering up. A second later, I saw that it worked.

Krob moved slowly and pointed at things while telling me what I am looking at. There were body parts of creatures I never heard of, rocks, minerals, plants, powders, and some things I could not classify in any of the previous categories.

Some containers lit up at the touch, some shook as soon as I got close to them, some made noise, some sparkled… and it was magical.

At the end of the wall, there was a door that Krob opened, and we found ourselves in an indoor garden that was lit up with yellowish-green light from the ceiling. The place was humid and packed with various plants. It gave me a jungle-like feeling, similar to the sunroom in Aldus's villa, but this one was larger, and it definitely had more plants. There was a faint buzzing sound and I wondered from where it's coming.

"Ask questions if something catches your attention.", Krob said. "If I speak about every plant we have in here, it will take a few days."

I agreed with Krob on this one. The place was massive and packed. The plants that filled the space were of unusual shapes and colors and I decided to soak in the sight before I start asking questions. I remembered that one of the first books Aldus gave me to read was 'Plants of Dena Lage', and I wondered if I will find any flora mentioned in that book.

We used a narrow pathway made out of smooth rocks to navigate between the plants. Some of the plants towered above me, and I realized that the ceiling is at least 7 meters high. Probably more.

"What is creating those greenish lights?", I asked while pointing up as I observed that lights are organized in cloud-like clusters and that they are moving.

"Bulbine wasps.", Krob responded.

I hoped that my ears malfunctioned. "Wasps?"

"Bulbine.", Krob added.

I wondered, how can he be so unruffled when there are hundreds (or thousands) of wasps above us? Well, that explains the buzzing sound I heard. "Do they… attack and sting people?"

"Only when provoked."

"What provokes them?"

"Stupid questions.", Krob said impatiently.

I huffed when I realized that his snarky remark was directed at me. "You said that I can ask questions."

"About plants. Not about the lighting.", he responded curtly.

"I never saw anything like that.", I admitted.

"I don't know how come Master didn't teach you these elemental things.", Krob grumbled.

I was irked by his pretentious behavior. "Did you know about Bulbine wasps before meeting Aldus?"

"No.", Krob responded without missing a beat.

Krob stopped moving and I could see that he pressed his dried lips into a line. Was he going to apologize?

He didn't apologize, but he explained which was almost the same.

"Bulbine wasps feed on the nectar of several plants we have here, and they use bark and dried up leaves that plants discard. They release green gas from their bottoms that ignites when it reacts with oxygen. They don't have stingers, but they will literally burn you as their flames can melt metal like it's butter. Bulbine wasps need humidity in order to control their flames, and their nest is in the tree in front. Unless you disturb the nest, Bulbine wasps will ignore you. We allow them to stay here, and they illuminate and heat up the area in return. It's a good deal for everyone."

I was fascinated. "A deal? You can make deals with them?"

"Master Aldus can. He communicates with the queen and she handles the rest."

I imagined insects that have small fire-engines at the back. Considering that they can burn through metal, I assumed that their nest is super-resilient to heat. And probably their bodies as well.

"If they make such strong flames, that means that their bodies are very tough."

Krob confirmed. "Correct."

The thought of wasps that can melt metal was extremely unsettling, and I had to ask: "How do you kill them?"

Krob's wrinkled face frowned at me. "I don't think it's wise discussing killing creatures when there is a big chance they can hear you."

I glanced up nervously.

"Can they understand us?", I asked in a whisper.

"If you don't know, you should not speak recklessly.", he warned me and I could see that he is mocking me.

I responded with a small nod, knowing that if I say anything back, we will only bicker.

For a creature without a brain, Krob has quite an attitude.

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