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"Necromancy...?

" Both Foster and Kyla asked at the same time, and Samria quickly nodded his head,

"Yes! And before you get those scared looks on your face like everyone else, necromancy isn't 'just' making things rot and causing dead monsters to rise, it's only... a very prominent part of it!

" He exclaimed, excited to tell two new people about this topic. Before either Foster or Kyla could say anything, the Mage Tower employee stepped in front of them.

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"As I said, Necromancy isn't illegal in Arcadum, and if you're signed up with us, anyone is allowed to use it, even with some stricter rules connected to it.

" The employee explained quickly,

"And I want to assure you-

"

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"Anyone?

" Foster asked immediately, and the employee looked at him confused,

"You're saying that anyone is allowed to use necromancy? You won't be persecuted, you won't be arrested, nothing like that?

"

nConfused, the employee looked at the man standing in front of him,

"I mean, yes. Of course, we cannot do anything against the prejudice of the people... but officially, you cannot be persecuted for it, yes.

"

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"Do you need to register that you can use necromancy? Or do you have to pay a fine if you don't?

"

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"...No, of course not. We do hope that our mages tell us if they can use it, but it is not a definite rule.

" The employee replied with a slight frown, really not sure why Foster was asking such questions. Samria, however, seemed to have a rough idea,

"Don't tell me, you...

"

nFoster held his hand forward, before it was soon cloaked in a sinister black energy,

"So yeah, I can actually use necromancy.

"

nThe employee took a confused step back, suddenly seeing the unexpected use of necromancy. Kyla rubbed the bridge of her nose annoyed,

"Seriously? You're just telling them?

"

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"Of course, why wouldn't I? I mean, if it's not illegal, I'd rather disclose it now so that I can have someone to talk to about it. I don't know ** about necromancy.

" Foster said bluntly, before someone excitedly pulled on his shoulder,

"Another necromancer! Perfect! But wait, if you don't know about necromancy, how did you come to use it? Did you find some sort of grimoire? But no, that would require studying, so you would know about it... Tell me! What happened?!

"

nFoster slowly turned his head toward Kyla, who was standing there with crossed arms, looking at him annoyed. It was as if she knew something like this was going to happen. But at the same time, she seemed sort of relieved to Foster. As if she was glad that they didn't have to hide the fact that he could use necromancy, at least.

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"It... seems like you want to talk a little, so I will just head back down and make sure to take a note that you know how to use necromancy. But... don't carelessly use magic like just now, alright? Necromancy feedback is not nice in the slightest.

" The employee explained, as if worried about Foster after seeing that he so casually used that spell. It was low-tier, but that didn't mean that it wasn't dangerous. Slowly, he excused himself, and made his way back down the stairs at the entrance of this floor. Meanwhile, Samria dragged Foster into the room.

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"Now, tell me, how did you learn to use necromancy?

" He asked curiously, still holding onto his shoulder. Somewhat annoyed, Foster jerked his body away and looked at Samria,

"Dude, calm down a bit, will you? I get that you're excited about this, but I'm not going to tell you about my past like this. I'm not gonna ask you about how you learned necromancy.

"

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"Oh, if you want to know how-

"

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"No, I don't want to know. Sorry. Just... I have a few questions about necromancy in general. The magic. Where I can learn new spells or something. Or just a little bit about it in general.

" Foster said immediately,

"I'm not looking to become a researcher here, I just want to know how to not ** up and hurt my friends while using it.

"

nSamria looked at Foster somewhat surprised,

"I see. In that case, hold on for a moment.

" He said, slowly turning around and walking to the other side of the room. Foster felt sort of bad, since Samria seemed hurt, but at the end of the day he didn't really care. He wasn't here to make friends, anyway.

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"Wow. I've never seen him that quiet. Teach me your ways.

"

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"What ways, I'm just a natural dickhead.

" Foster replied instantly, still looking at Samria's back. It took him a few seconds to realize that the voice was not that of one of the three people that were supposed to be in here. He turned his head, and looked at the person that spoke. It was the skeleton, standing next to him and looking at Samria as well.

nKyla had moved away to the other side of the room nervously, not having expected something like that to suddenly happen. Foster, however, just looked at the skeleton a little surprised,

"Huh. I thought talking skeletons are rare, but I guess not. What's up?

"

nSlowly, the skeleton raised his head and stared at the ceiling, before looking back at Foster with a shrug. Overall, this skeleton seemed rather lethargic. The opposite to the way that Samria was acting,

"So you're like a proper undead, huh?

"

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"Yep.

"

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"Cool, cool.

" Foster replied. Weirdly enough, the conversation seemed... very normal. It didn't take long until Samria returned with a few books in hand, slamming them on a table in front of Foster.

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"Alright! Here you go! These books are filled with the basics of necromancy! I get that you don't want to explain your past to me, and that's totally fine! But even then, since necromancers like us are rare, I still want us to work together!

" Samria exclaimed, as excited as before again. Even though he wouldn't have cared in the end, Foster was still happy that he didn't absolutely shatter this guy's feelings. It was true that he would be useful to him in the future.

nFoster looked at the books and picked one of them up, starting to flip through it,

"So are there like, spells in here that I can learn or something?

"

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"Spe- Oh!

" Samria exclaimed,

"No, no, of course not, these aren't spellbooks, obviously. The only place you can get those are upstairs in the library, but you need to be properly approved to be able to read those. I do have a few spellscrolls for some though, you can learn the spell through those!

" He explained somewhat excitedly, making his way back to the shelves on the other side of the room.

nThen what were these books about? Were they seriously just filled with boring theory and research stuff about necromancy? Foster already knew that he wouldn't like this sort of thing. Maybe if there was some sort of magic related to space, and planets and stars, then maybe he might enjoy learning magic... but if he had to know all of these sort of things to even have a chance? He would just rely on leveling up his Martial Necromancy skill to learn new magic instead.

nEven when Samria placed the scrolls on the table and Foster got to take a look, he didn't get much more excited about it. Sure, he could see all those cool patterns like those that came from that creepy guy's hand earlier, but he had no idea how he was supposed to learn to cast a spell like this.

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"Fucking hell...

" Foster muttered with a deep sigh, as Samria quickly took the scroll from him again,

"You... don't look like a wizard.

"

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"...I'm a martial artist. Hybrid class.

" Foster explained briefly. Immediately, Samria seemed curious,

"Hybrid class... martial artist... interesting... a unique sort of battle mage then.

" He muttered, before growing a broad grin,

"I have a suggestion for you. I will give you these scrolls, for free, if you agree to work with me.

"

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"I'm not a researcher, dude. I'm seriously not.

" Foster said, scratching the back of his head. Kyla stepped up right next to him, looking at Samria suspiciously. Foster knew her expressions by now. It seemed like she was trying to read Samria's 'flame' to see if he was up to something or not.

nSamria, however, only brought over a small wooden box,

"You see, tools for wizards have to be attuned directly to the sort of magic being cast. If we're talking necromancy... well, barely anyone uses it! I'm good at research and making these tools, but I'm not... the greatest caster. I made Jeremy here by complete accident! I still don't know how he can talk!

" Samria exclaimed, causing Foster and Kyla to immediately look at the Skeleton in question, who once more simply shrugged.

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"Anyway, if you agree to test these tools out in the field, and report back to me about how well they work, then you can have them and any necromancy scrolls I have, for free!

"

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