The employee guided Foster and Kyla further up the stairs,

"Now, most of the leftover floors are split up into spaces that are reserved by specific researchers. But they are larger, and based on long-term research, so we can see a few more interesting things. These are the experts that we come to depending on certain types of magic.

" He explained, as they stepped further into one of the floors. The employee walked toward one of the open doors, slightly peaking inside,

"Right. This here is the research space of our conjuration expert. We do try to sort everything a little bit, so all the surrounding spacesd are reserved for conjuration-based wizards.

"

Both Kyla and Foster took a closer look into the room as well. It was filled with numerous random items, as well as two pedestals in the center of the room. But more importantly, numerous small critter, of a sort that Foster had never seen before, could be seen climbing around, carrying different books and tools over to the man sitting at the desk on the other side of the room. Foster couldn't see him very well from all the way over here, because there was a lot of clutter in the way, but something seemed sort of off about him.

Slowly, Foster looked at the employee,

"Sorry, but... what exactly is conjuration magic? It's like... summoning something or whatever, right?

" He asked, and the employee raised his brows surprised,

"Yes, indeed! That is the fundamental of conjuration. The spell calls upon something at another space, and transports it over toward you. That does make it quite complex, however. Often, it is done to summon creatures such as these for one's aid from other planes.

"

"Ehm... right... I heard about otherworlders some time ago, does that work similarly to this?

" Foster asked. He sort of became jittery and nervous after asking that question. After all, he still had not the slightest idea about how he even got here. Maybe he could find a way to get home like this.

However, as the question entered his mind, the employees smile immediately disappeared,

"Otherworlders... They... Well, we do not know exactly how they suddenly appear in our world, but it is assumed that it works similarly to-

"

"No, otherworlders are not summoned through conjuration magic.

" A deep voice came from inside the room. Neither Foster nor Kyla had noticed that he started moving, but the man that had been sitting at the desk suddenly stood in front of them. He was towering, truly. He was maybe three meters tall, and scarily thin. As if he was a normal guy who had just been stretched out to look like this. The summoned critters were climbing over him, along his arms and shoulders, something that didn't seem to bother him. His complexion didn't make him seem particularly healthy, though.

"

"Here, let me show you.

" The man said, suddenly moving one of his creepily long arms, and wrapping his stick-like fingers around one of the critters. Suddenly, the man's hand seemed to glow, and patterns suddenly appeared around the fist. Circles, triangles, and writing in a language that Foster didn't recognize. They were spinning around the critter, before suddenly, the man spoke,

"Banish

", and the creature fell apart into dust that disappeared into nothingness before it hit the ground.

"Conjuration is not permanent. Things are simply pulled to another place for the duration of the spell. So in theory, it should work on otherworlders as well.

" Slowly, the man raised his hand upward, holding his huge hand in front of Foster's face. With his deep, creepy voice, he once more said,

"Banish.

"

Foster flinched, seeing the slight light appear on the man's hand, before the giant man slowly continued,

"Otherworlders are right where they are supposed to. Meaning that either, they are nothing but a myth made up to scare children into doing housework, they have been brought here through non-magical means... or nobody has ever been powerful enough to bring them back.

" The man explained, slowly turning around again, moving through the room at a surreal pace compared to the speed at which he was moving, through his incredibly long limbs.

"S-Sir, please do not cast such spells on others.

" The employee asked, slowly glancing at where the dust from that critter should have gathered on the ground,

"And also, we have repeatedly asked you to refrain from using banishment on other beings in general. You summoned them, so there is no need to put them through unnecessary... stress.

"Right, right. I'll remember.

" The man said,

"That was an interesting question, though. If you have more, go ahead and come to me some time, young man.

" Looking at Foster, the man once more slightly turned his head. But really, Foster himself was nothing but uncomfortable. Through his sheer presence. He had no idea what it was. He had seen far weirder people around, but for some reason, this one made him feel just... icky.

"Let us move on for now.

" The employee suggested, slowly pushing Foster and Kyla away from the door, as if he was regretting having brought them here in the first place. Out of the corner of the eye, as he left, Foster saw something in the other rooms though. Something that immediately distracted him from the discomfort that he was experiencing right now.

He instantly turned his head to try to see what it was, that weirdly familiar light. But the moment he tried to, it had already disappeared. Instead, the employee ushered the two people with him back toward the stairs, to try and get as far away from here as possible. Like that, they made their way up another few floors, just walking around the more prominent research areas. Luckily, even if sometimes quite eccentric, nobody was quite as weird as that man from before, who still didn't escape Foster's mind, even if Kyla seemed to be having fun.

And then, they made their way up another floor. Foster and Kyla already nearly stepped onto there, but the employee immediately pulled them away,

"Ah, no, maybe you should not go there. You are new here, right? Maybe we should introduce you to this place some other ti-

"

"Hm?

" Suddenly, from the other side of the hall here, a man approached,

"Oh! Craig, was it?

"

"Actually, it's Ca-

"

"Nice to see you again, Craig. And who are you two?

" The man asked with a smile on his face. His hair was as white as snow, and his skin looked like he never even heard about sunlight. His ears were long and pointed, and his eyes were glowing in a bright red color.

"I'm Foster, this is Kyla. I just signed up here, so we're getting a tour of the place.

" Foster explained, sort of intrigued about what was going on in this place.

"Oh! Great! Welcome to the Mage Tower! Do you want me to show you around?

" The man asked curiously,

"Oh right, first, my name is Samria! Nice to meet you.

" He said, weirdly excited about meeting someone new. The employee was letting out a deep sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"If you do want to show them around, please take it slow, alright?

"

"I'll take that as a yes!

" Samria exclaimed, quickly stepping behind Foster and Kyla, pushing them forward as he started to explain everything,

"So, I practically have this whole floor for myself. I'm the only researcher of my specialization, and the others didn't want to be around me for some reason. I don't know why, honestly, I'm pretty sociable, right? But! I do get a lot of space and funding for everything I do here!

" In a flurry of words that seemed to come out of this man's mouth without any sort of stop to it, Foster and Kyla were guided around, not even knowing what he was working on. That was something that the employee was apparently trying to prepare them for, though.

"Before you go in there, I must ask you not to freak out or become scared. It may be frowned upon and even illegal in other places, but I promise that we put this magic under strict supervision, and that we have been given permission by the emperor himself to not only allow research into this magic, but to also let mages that signed with us and are under our supervision use it themselves.

" The employee explained, but still didn't mention the magic, as if he was dreading it. As if he had a rough idea that the moment that these two people heard about it, they would run away screaming.

Samria, however, had a broad grin on his face, pushing Foster and Kyla into the room in front of them,

"Welcome to Arcadum's Mage Tower's very own Necromancy research center!

" He exclaimed, as they all set eyes on a human skeleton casually walking around the room.